Dubai, UAE, March 8, 2006: Emaar Properties PJSC, the world’s No. 1 real estate company, conducted its eighth Annual General Meeting (AGM) this evening in the presence of the company’s Board of Directors and senior executives of the company and its subsidiaries.
The Board of Directors’ proposal to distribute 40 per cent cash dividend on par value of the share was agreed by the AGM and the company will be notifying shareholders of the payment schedule in due course.
The new Board of Directors of the company elected by the shareholders are: Mr. Mohamed Ali Alabbar, Mr. Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, Mr. Salem Rashed Al Mohannadi, Mr. Ahmed Thani Al Matrooshi, Mr. Hussain Al Qamzi, Mr. Majed Saif Al Ghurair, Mr. Ahmed Jamal Jawa and Dr. Loay Mohamed Belhoul.
The AGM’s agenda also included approval by shareholders of the company’s annual accounts for the year ended December 31, 2005; the declaration of transfers to reserve and appointment of Ernst & Young auditors for the year 2006.
Speaking at the AGM, Emaar’s Chairman Mohamed Ali Alabbar said: “Our biggest achievement in 2005 has been that Emaar became the Number 1 real estate company in the world by market capitalization in 2005. This distinction came just eight years from the inception of our Company in 1997. We have good cause to celebrate. Emaar has gone farther, faster, than we have ever imagined.
“However, our journey has just begun. Today, we have a new vision for Emaar. We call it “Vision 2010”. In the year 2010, we envision Emaar to be not just the Number 1 real-estate company, but one of the most valuable companies in the world beyond property development, irrespective of business activity.
“Our mission for tomorrow is to deliver world-class products and services, not just for property development, but in every chosen business activity. At Emaar, we have decided to focus our attention in the section of real estate, hospitality, leisure, retail, education, healthcare and finance.
Moreover, we commit to deliver on a global basis - beyond Dubai, in the GCC, in Europe, Asia and the United States. By 2010, “Emaar” will be an international brand-name that is synonymous to excellence across diverse business activities and across the world. Our name will resonate globally with credibility, confidence and distinction. Our new goal is: Emaar, one of the world’s most valuable companies”
Emaar earlier announced record annual profits of AED 4.731 billion for the year ended December 31, 2005. This corresponds to a net profit increase of 180 per cent. Net profit for fiscal 2004 was AED 1.691 billion. Property revenues increased by AED 3.113 billion or 59 per cent to AED 8.361 billion for the year ended 31 December 2005, as compared to AED 5.248 billion for the year 2004. Significantly, the Earnings Per Share increased to AED 0.85 per share for the year 2005 from AED 0.33 per share for the year 2004.
The company also announced cash commitments of a total of AED 17.926 billion for the year 2006. Saudi Arabia, UAE and India have the largest share within the commitments which are AED 4,776 million, AED 2,500 million and AED 2,314 million respectively. Morocco has been allocated AED 1,286 million, Egypt AED 1,102 million, Jordan AED 624 million, Syria AED 476 million, Pakistan AED 441 million, Turkey AED 367 million, Lebanon AED 367 million and others cash commitments amount to AED 3,673 million.
Emaar also scored a first in the region by introducing the pioneering interactive electronic voting system for shareholders to register their votes for agenda items throughout the meeting.
Provided with a keypad device at registration that was unique to each shareholder and the number of shares that they hold, the keypad technology allowed immediate voting during the AGM. The use of the keypads allowed each participant to respond to questions, and to see a real-time display of all participants’ responses. The questions themselves were created with software that directly adds into MS PowerPoint, thus making the system very easy to use.
“As Emaar has grown over the last eight years, so has our number of shareholders. This keypad technology was an obvious progression for Emaar as it enables us to ensure immediate results and transparency throughout the voting and results process. The introduction of such an interactive system allowed us to accurately count shareholders votes and show the same results during the meeting,” said Nasser Rafi, Head of Information Technology at Emaar Properties.
“The technology goes are far as to allow us to program the devices for each shareholder and for the number of shares that they own. It does not allow duplication and as a factory default the keypad only allows one vote per keypad per person,” he added.
