Manazel Real Estate, a leading UAE developer, today announced the creation of a new subsidiary called Manazel Malls, which will take operational and managerial control of Capital Mall and all retail areas in Al Reef Community and Al Reef 2 in Abu Dhabi in addition to future retail projects.

The new subsidiary ensures that a dedicated professional and experienced team is now responsible for all of Manazel’s retail operations and will drive operational efficiencies and improve performance across this line of business.      

The establishment of this new subsidiary supports Manazel’s business strategy with a focus on, not only capitalising on its expertise in the property space, but also growing non-cyclical revenues through diversification into closely aligned growth sectors.   

Manazel Malls also strategically provides Manazel with the potential to manage retail assets on behalf of third parties within the UAE and across the wider region, and presents it with the opportunity to potentially seek a listing for this business.

Capital Mall is located in Mohamed Bin Zayed City in Abu Dhabi and consists of three storeys of premium retail space spanning more than 60,000 sq m of gross leasable area (GLA).  

Within Al Reef Community, thriving with close to 17,000 residents, the retail element of the project consists of 8,778 sq m of GLA. The existing retail offering covers a wide range of services including food and beverage and neighbourhood services such as laundry, barbers, and pharmacies. Among the already operational well-known retailers are Select Market, 800 Pizza, Just Kabab, and Il Forno, and other distinguished retailers will arrive shortly, including Royal Orchid, Costa Coffee, lbn Sina Medical Center and Al Manara pharmacy.

Endorsing the success of Manazel’s diversification strategy to date, for the period ended June 30, 2015, Manazel delivered a net profit of Dh45 million ($12.25 million), up by 179 per cent from Dh16.1 million ($4.38 million) in first half 2014, largely driven by improved margins from the sale of properties, reductions in financing costs and  the appreciation of the value of investment properties.

Waleid Gamal Eldien, Manazel’s chief investment and commercial officer, said: “In line with our strategy, we are capitalising on our expertise in the residential and commercial real estate sectors by launching Manazel Malls to manage all of our retail assets.  We have built an experienced team of executives to run this subsidiary and to ensure optimal performance while driving recurring revenue streams across our real estate assets."

“We continue our steady growth by building on the momentum of our success to date, and will remain focused on the significant growth opportunities in the new and dynamic market sectors that Manazel continues to pursue. We look forward to reporting on further developments in due course,” Eldien said. - TradeArabia News Service