Sorouh real estate cuts foreign levels of shareholding

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi-based Sorouh Real Estate, one of the UAE's largest companies by market capitalisation, said on Tuesday its board of directors has decided to reduce the level of shareholding allocated for foreign investment from 20 per cent of the total outstanding shareholding to 15 per cent.

"The board has taken this decision to protect the interests of Sorouh's long-term investors, both local and foreign," the company said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where it is listed.

"The step follows the recent volatility in the share price driven by short term speculation," Sorouh said.

Sorouh's chief executive officer Mounir Haidar was unavailable for comment when contacted by Gulf News.

Yesterday shares of Sorouh fell 0.31 per cent to Dh2.95 a share on a declining ADX where the general index fell 4.87 per cent to 2,975.28.

Recently, Haidar told reporters that despite the global liquidity squeeze, Sorouh is going ahead with its projects in Abu Dhabi and expansion plans, which include proposed mix-use projects in Egypt and Morocco.

He said the property market in Abu Dhabi is strong mainly due to the demand-supply mismatch. "There's a strong demand for residential property in Abu Dhabi and the supply is still not up to the level of demand," said Haidar, adding that there is an estimated demand for 100,000 residential units over the next 8 to 10 years in Abu Dhabi.

"We will be providing 7,000 to 10,000 residential units over the next three to five years," he said.