Equitativa, the fund manager of Emirates REIT, said today it intends to invest AED 200 million to acquire new properties in several sectors to be added to the Emirates REIT fund by early next year.
This came in conjunction with the company's announcement of its financial results for the first half of this year, which showed that the Emirates REIT Fund achieved a 9.1% increase in its net real estate income during the first six months of 2019 compared to the same period last year.
Equity said in a statement that the fund recorded a 13.5% increase in EBITDA during the same period and recorded a profit of more than AED 4 million despite a market reassessment of real estate assets and market trends.
The first half of the year saw an overall improvement in the efficiency of the Emirates REIT portfolio, which included a 5% decrease in fund expenses, an improvement in receivables and a fixed occupancy rate of 75%.
Sylvain Viejo, CEO of Equitativa Dubai, said: `` Our portfolio is characterized by stable occupancy rates thanks to our active management and quality of assets we manage.We are now seeking to acquire real estate assets where we are considering a number of transactions that will boost the income from operations that remained stable during the period. ''
“We believe this is the right time to acquire premium assets, especially as Emirates REIT is in a position to take advantage of attractive prices for premium assets.”
Emirates REIT, the world's largest Shari'ah compliant real estate investment fund, is listed on the Nasdaq Dubai exchange.