June 17, 2011- Solidere’s profits rose by 8 percent year-on-year to $195.5 million in 2010 due to the achievement of contracts signed and approved in the past years, the real estate developer said in a statement issued on June 13.
According to the statement, Solidere still has strong fundamentals due to at least $10 billion in assets but that the current slowdown in real estate activity may affect profit in coming years. The company said it did not sign any new project last year.
Revenues from previous real estate sales earned in 2010 reached $337 million, a 10 percent increase from $305 million in 2009, the statement said.
Income from real estate and shop rents in the downtown area of Beirut rose by 50 percent at $41 million compared to $27 million in 2009.
Solidere expected rent revenues in 2011 to rise to $50 million. The expected rent revenues, the company said, are from rental contracts in the Southern area of Beirut Souks which was successfully launched in 2011.
Solidere said it is currently negotiating with a number of investors. It expects new contracts to be signed within the coming few months, which it said would secure revenues for the coming years.
Solidere has distributed dividends worth over $924 million in addition to four million shares in corporeal distribution over the past few years.
The company said it had spent $23 million on infrastructure projects, $34 million to build the Southern part of the Beirut Souks project, and $42 million on developing various real estate and tourism projects in 2010.
The remaining area of Solidere’s unsold properties totals 1.89 million square meters, in build-up area, around 40 percent of its initial held area.
Solidere -The Lebanese Company for the Development and Reconstruction of Beirut Central District - was incorporated as a Lebanese joint-stock company in 1994. Its business is the reconstruction and development of the Beirut city center.
Solidere’s A shares fell 1.7 percent at $17.8, its lowest close since June 1, 2011, while B shares declined 0.9 percent to $18.