Qannas Investment closes two lucrative investments in H1 2014

Business

Qannas Investment closes two lucrative investments in H1 2014

Qannas Investments Limited (QIL), a closed-ended investment company managed by ADCM Ltd (ADCM), the investment management arm of Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG), today announces strong performance during the six months ended June 30, 2014. During the period, QIL successfully exited two investments, each generating a significant rate of return, and subsequently paid a dividend of 11.5% to its shareholders in July 2014.

Jassim Alseddiqi, Chief Executive Officer of ADFG and Executive Director of QIL, said: QIL continued to deliver excellent performance during the first half of 2014. During the six month period, the management team successfully closed two very lucrative investments returning cash to the business. The sale of a plot of land on Reem Island, Abu Dhabi, and the closure of the position in Marina 101 were both completed at an excellent exit multiples of 1.89x and 1.57x respectively. To be able to share this success with our loyal shareholders through a special dividend of $0.115 per share therefore gives us significant pleasure.

With available cash, QIL is extremely well-placed for the next stage of its development as we seek to identify, develop and close productive investment opportunities in our key markets, particularly while the economic environment in UAE, Central London and Eastern Europe remain so advantageous.

As of 30 June 2014, QIL has available cash of AED120m, which it intends to invest in a pipeline of identified projects in UAE, Eastern Europe and Central London. QIL had a Net Asset Value (NAV) of approximately AED330m

QIL has been able to take advantage of improving economic conditions in its key markets, which include the UAE, Central London and Eastern Europe, over the first six months of 2014. With the confident investor sentiment expected to prevail over coming months, QIL has identified several promising investment opportunities in these selected geographies which it will look to target and conclude in the near future.

In January 2014, QIL was awarded the "Outstanding Performance & Innovation" award, by MENA FM (Middle East and North Africa Fund Managers), in addition to a number of other nominations. The MENA FM Performance Awards is one of the largest gatherings of fund managers in the industry's calendar, and the award recognises QIL's Investment Manager's (ADCM Ltd) competitive edge in creating superior returns for QIL's shareholders.