Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), master developer of tourism, cultural and residential projects in Abu Dhabi, released its 2012 financial report today. The year 2012 had been a significant year for the master developer as a number of high-profile hospitality projects were launched and delivered during the year. The company ended 2012 with a cash balance of over AED 2.4 billion.

In 2012, TDIC celebrated the official opening of the St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, the opening of the Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa by Anantara, and the opening of the Stables and the Conference Centre on Sir Bani Yas Island. 2012 also witnessed the completion and handing over of the first phases of each of the Eastern Mangroves residences, a total of 50 units, the first phase of Saadiyat Beach Residences, a total of 285 units, and the Saadiyat Beach Villas, a total of 254 units. Also in 2012, TDIC launched phase two of the St. Regis Apartments and released the residential Saadiyat Beach Golf Views land plots at the Saadiyat Beach District.

Ali Al Hammadi, Deputy Managing Director at TDIC, said: “2012 was a phenomenal year for us, as we delivered a number of high-profile hospitality projects and residential units in Abu Dhabi and on Saadiyat and Sir Bani Yas Island. Moving forward, we’re very optimistic about our performance in 2013. As we start to see our developments come to life, we believe that these newly-opened properties, and others that are under way, will provide a strong uplift to the company’s earnings in 2013.”

TDIC also experienced a successful year of leasing its residential communities on Saadiyat and in Abu Dhabi. Rental income from the residential property was very strong for the year where by the end of 2012 the St. Regis apartments achieved 96 percent leasing occupancy level and the first phase of the Eastern Mangroves residences achieved 86 percent occupancy level in less than three months from opening. Today, these two properties are running at an almost 100 percent occupancy rate. In addition, the developer’s hotels performed well in line with the Abu Dhabi market and the golf clubs, where the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club and the Abu Dhabi Golf Club performed above 70 percent utilization.

Looking at 2013, TDIC anticipates another year of highly successful leasing and sales figures, as it gears up to deliver the second phase of the Saadiyat Beach Residents and the second phase of the Eastern Mangroves residences. In April 2013, TDIC launched for sale 33 villas of the third phase of the Saadiyat Beach Villas, which make up a total of 77 villas. Following the release, TDIC sold 100 percent of the units in two days only, which has been seen as a sign of a recovering real estate market in the emirate.

Ahmed Al Fahim, Executive Director of Marketing, Communications, Sales and Leasing at TDIC, stated: “In 2012, we accomplished exceptional leasing and sales figures. Our revenue for the year increased by 280 percent to AED 1.27 billion as a result of the sales of properties and increased revenue from our operating business. The opening of revenue-generating assets and the exceptional residential sales have resulted, on a normalised basis, in a positive EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation) performance. Based on the encouraging early results of the first quarter of 2013, we are looking forward to stronger results and better performance in 2013.”

In 2012, TDIC adopted a business-wide system implementation of Oracle which successfully went live at the beginning of the year, allowing the use of a single system across the organization. Following its success, TDIC developed a series of system implementations with other departments, giving the organisation centralized control and visibility over all transactional processes, ensuring greater efficiencies in automated workflows, project costing, and budget approvals.

In 2012, TDIC partnered with Cranleigh School, a leading UK independent school founded in 1865, to open an elite campus on Saadiyat Island in the third quarter of 2014. In 2012, TDIC completed the development of Hodariyat Bridge – the UAE’s largest cable-stay bridge, which links the Abu Dhabi city’s western coastline to the Hodariyat Island. Upon its completion, it was handed over to the Department of Transport in Abu Dhabi. Also in 2012, TDIC opened Al Bateen Beach with a beachside park that overlooks 800 metres of pristine coastline. The same year TDIC partnered with Rotana Jet to offer new service flights, from and to Abu Dhabi Al Bateen Executive Airport and Sir Bani Yas Island.

2012 was also the year the Government of Abu Dhabi announced the confirmed opening dates for the museums of the Saadiyat Cultural District – Louvre Abu Dhabi set to open in 2015, Zayed National Museum in 2016 and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi in 2017.

There have not been any major changes to the company’s capital structure; maintaining a debt to equity ratio of 65 percent. In the 2012 published results, TDIC reported a net loss of AED 2.15 billion which has been primarily attributed to non-cash items such as the increased amount in depreciation coupled with impairments on long term assets amounting to a value of AED 1.77 billion. Interest expenses for the period amounted to AED 533 million, resulting in a normalized EBITDA of AED 150.8 million.

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