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Abu Dhabi Finance (ADF), a leading home finance provider in the UAE, achieved a 10 per cent increase in both client numbers and the size of its loan book in 2013, while its economies of scale and increasing business efficiency allowed it to deliver a 107 per cent increase in operating profits.
The impressive financial performance figures mark the culmination of a year in which Abu Dhabi Finance celebrated its fifth anniversary and won a series of awards for its products and services.
In June, Abu Dhabi Finance was named the Best Home Finance Company at the 2013 Banker Middle East Industry Awards, while in March; it was recognised for offering the Best Home Finance product, Essence, at the 2013 Banker Middle East Product Awards. One of the region’s leading financial events, the Banker Middle East Awards invites nominations from more than 200 institutions based all over the GCC countries as well as Jordan and Lebanon.
Chris Taylor, CEO of Abu Dhabi Finance, said the results were a reflection of a maturing business and a robust market.
“Last year was our strongest to date, with continued progress on all of our key indicators. We are proud to have achieved double-digit growth in our client base and in the size of our loan book, but we are even prouder to have done so while continuing another year of profitability,” he said.
“As a five year old business, we have lived through some challenging global market conditions in the real estate sector. The underlying strength of the Abu Dhabi and wider UAE market is becoming increasingly evident, however, and has been a key driver for these positive results.”
Ali Eid AlMheiri, Chairman at Abu Dhabi Finance, said that while he is pleased with the company’s financial results, the continued improvement in service standards was even more impressive.
“We have achieved significant bottom-line growth during 2013 while remaining committed to our core philosophy of providing outstanding client service. Last year, more than 90% of our clients told us that they are highly satisfied with our service standards.”
At the beginning of 2013, Abu Dhabi Finance launched a new commercial mortgage product line, Anchor. Designed for clients looking to purchase commercial property for their own use or as investments, Anchor has allowed the company to establish itself in this new market segment.
Other highlights of 2013 included the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), under which Abu Dhabi Finance will use RICS Registered Valuers to perform the property valuations moving forward. The MoU underlines ADF’s continuing focus and due diligence on risk management and healthy internal quality assurance in respect of their financing activities.
In June, Abu Dhabi Finance and the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which contained a number of services for commercial mortgages for the Fund’s applicants. This agreement supports the Khalifa Fund’s efforts to prepare the appropriate environment to establish and improve the enterprises financed by the Fund all over the country.
In its role as a leading provider of mortgage loans, Abu Dhabi Finance sponsored the MENA Mortgage and Affordable Housing Congress during Cityscape Global, the region’s largest real estate event. Held in Dubai in October 2013, the Congress provided industry experts and regulators with a platform to discuss the growth of the regional home financing industry and learn proven strategies for establishing, running and profiting from housing finance in the MENA region.
Chris Taylor said one of 2013’s achievements which the Board and management are most proud of was in Abu Dhabi Finance’s growing Emirati workforce.
“We have made a commitment to attracting and training more Emiratis into the business. By the end of 2013, Emiratis accounted for twenty six per cent of our total workforce and this proportion will continue to grow in 2014.”
As Abu Dhabi Finance prepares for another successful year ahead, the company concentrates on three areas of continued focus: providing the best range of residential and commercial mortgage products to support the real estate sector across the UAE; continuing to provide the highest levels of transparency and client service in the market; and ensuring staff development and value addition to the communities in which the company operates.
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