Abu Dhabi's Eshraq Plans To List Shares In Saudi Arabia

Abu Dhabi-based Eshraq Investments has approved plans to cross list some of its shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

The investment company, which is also listed on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, said it has appointed Banque Saudi Fransi and Baker McKenzie as advisors on the deal.

The move was approved by the company's board, which also reported an 11 percent year-on-year increase in operational revenue, to AED26 million and an increase of 20 percent year-on-year in its financial investment returns, primarily due to deployment of capital in equity and fixed income investments.

The company said it also achieved its second year of profits although net profit of AED3 million for 2018 reflected the impact of a number of one-off, non-cash asset impairments.

In 2018, Eshraq said it sought to diversify its revenue sources to offset the impact of decline in real estate earnings. Eshraq’s hospitality and leasing business maintained its market leading rental yield, with occupancy rates of more than 91 percent in Q4, outperforming its peers.

On the development front, Eshraq said its Marina Rise project construction is now over 20 percent complete and is targeted to be ready by the second quarter of 2020.

Eshraq’s chairman, Jassim Alseddiqi, said: “Today, we have successfully transitioned the company’s focus from real estate development to investing across different businesses. We are paving the way for further growth and diversification by tapping into strategic investment opportunities outside real estate and into various sectors where we see huge potential.”