The Board of Directors of Abu Dhabi National Hotels has approved a unanimous proposal by shareholders to increase the company’s capital from AED 720 million to AED 1 billion by issuing bonus shares.

The ADNH held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of shareholders yesterday.

The meeting, held at the Abu Dhabi Sheraton Hotel and Resort, also approved a proposal to pay cash dividend of 20 per cent for 2007. The board also approved the shareholders’ proposal to increase the number of Board Members from 8 to 9. It now includes HE Saif Mohammed Al Hajeri as Chairman, Mr. Ahmed Khalaf Al Otaiba as Vice Chairman, and Shiekh Ahmed Mohammed bin Sultan Suroor Al Dhaheri, Mohammed Thaloob Al Diree, Hamad Abdullah Al Shamsi, Hamad bin Kardoos Al Ameri, Alaa Oraikat, Khamis Mohammed Buharoon and Khalid Hajji Abdulla Khoori as members. 

Reporting on the achidevements of the company in 2007, H.E. Saif Mohammed Al Hajeri, Chairman, praised the company’s performance and financial results for 2007, expressing his gratitude to HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE’s President, and HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, for their continuous support for the company. 

He noted that ADNH earned operating profits of AED 460 million on revenues of AED 1.321 billion, an increase of over 23.3 percent and 10.5 percent respectively over 2006. “The net profit has increased from AED 292.5 million in 2006 to AED 471.7 million, a sharp growth of 61.2%. This
is largely due to the increase of non-operational income from AED 27.2 million in 2006 to AED 124 million in 2007”, he explained.

Al Hajeri said: “The excellent results for 2007 reflect the ongoing economic and tourism development in the UAE in general, and in Abu Dhabi in particular, and reaffirms the high confidence in the national economy. In 2007, room occupancy rate increased by 27.3 per cent compared to 2006, owing to many factors notably the success of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority’s strategy to promote and develop tourism.”

The hotel division led the growth in profits with a 37.4 per cent increase to AED 323.4 million from AED 235.4 million in 2006.  The catering and contract services achieved a 7.4 per cent increase in profits to AED 51.7 million compared with AED 48.1 million in 2006, followed by the transport services which showed an increase of 6 per cent with net profit of AED 6 million in 2007 compared with AED 5.6 million in 2006. 

During 2007, ADNH signed a contract to manage JW Marriot Hotel and Resort, the first Marriott property in Abu Dhabi. The year also saw the completion of the main stages of construction of the 450-room Sofitel Jumairah Hotel in Dubai, which is due to open in 2008. 

The Chairman noted that ADNH is part of the ambitious plans to develop Saadiyat Island and Capital City (at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre).  “This will allow us to keep abreast with the boom taking place in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the fields of tourism, business entertainment, international exhibitions and conferences,” Al Hajeri said.

“I would like to thank all shareholders for their ongoing support and trust, public and private sectors’ authorities, our management and staff who contribute to the success of ADNH”, Al Hajeri concluded.
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