Solidere sal, the Lebanese Company for the Development and Reconstruction of the Beirut Central District, indicated that a total of 393 development projects representing about 3.1 million square meters of built-up area were at various stages of development in the Beirut Central District.
It said that 271 projects have been completed, 47 are under construction, 25 are awaiting permits, 24 are under study, 13 awaiting submission, seven are inactive and six are under restoration. Also, projects completed represented 1.4 million square meters of built-up area and accounted for 44.6% of the total. It was followed by projects under construction with a total of 527,561 sqm (17.2%), projects awaiting submission at 395,834 sqm (12.9%), projects awaiting permits reached 387,417 sqm (12.6%), projects under study covered 355,175 sqm (11.6%), while inactive projects represented 16,632 sqm (0.5%) and projects being restored consisted of 12,543 sqm (0.4%).
Solidere announced consolidated net profits of $162.6m in 2011, constituting a decline of 17.3% from $196.5m in 2010. Revenues from land and real estate sales declined by 28.3% to $241.7m in 2011, while revenues from rental properties increased by 20.9% yearon- year to $49.9m.
Further, income from services decreased 42.6% annually to $4.8m in 2011. Also, the firm recorded total net operating revenues of $230.6m, down 15.3% year-on-year.
Solidere stated that its consolidated assets totaled $2.7bn and increased by 6.3% from end-2010, as inventory of land and projects in progress totaled $1.13bn at end-2011, slightly up from $1.1bn a year earlier. Bank overdrafts and short term facilities reached $504.8m compared to $470.3m at the end of 2010. Solidere's earnings per share declined to $0.98 in 2011 compared to $1.19 in the previous year.
Lebanon This Week – Byblos Bank Research
7 January
