Dubai: Shopping mall specialist Majid Al Futtaim Properties, a member of the Majid Al Futtaim Group, will spend $2 billion (Dh7.34 billion) over the next two to three years on four major projects it is executing in the Middle East and North Africa.

This includes developments in the UAE, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon that will add about 330,000 square metres of gross leasable area to the company's existing 935,000 square metres, MAF Properties chief executive Peter Walichnowski told Gulf News.

"The amount we are investing also includes some redevelopment at Deira City Centre," he said. "Additional projects after these will see a further investment of $2 billion. We work in cycles of two to three years."

Visibility

Apart from its core business of shopping malls, MAF Properties has nine operational hotels in the region and two more opening this year, including a Kempinski at Bahrain City Centre.

The company would finance the projects through a mix of cash flows, corporate debt and project finance, Walichnowski said.

Refusing to quantify the amount the company will raise this year in loans, he said: "Raising the cash is a continuous process. Our treasury department is always in the market. We need to have 12 to 18 months visibility on our funding before we can actually commit to projects in the pipeline".

"We do specific project financing as well, like for our project in Beirut, which is being financed by Beirut banks; and our project in Fujairah, which is being financed by a Fujairah bank," he said.

Raising operational and project finance has become more expensive as "margins have obviously gone up over the past couple of years," Walichnowski said.

"So, it's more expensive debt. It probably takes longer to raise it. The banks do more due diligence." This has not, however, impacted MAF Properties' balance sheet in any significant way, as income from operations is showing growth.

"Even with the slowdown over the last couple of years, our shopping malls are still generally performing well and giving solid income growth," he said.