Depa Limited (ticker DEPA) (‘Depa’ or ‘the Company’), one of the world’s leading interior contracting companies, today issues the following update for the third quarter ended 31 September 2010.
The Company continues to perform well, and trading during the third quarter was in line with previous guidance. Whilst year end revenue and profit expectations will be lower than 2009 (excluding the impact of the Burj Khalifa claim), the improving backlog, which now stands at AED 2.4bn*, suggests the Company will be well positioned for circa 20% growth in 2011 and 2012.
Commenting on the results, Mr. Mohannad Sweid, CEO of Depa, said: “We are now seeing the early signs of economic recovery across our core markets and this is evident in the build up of exciting projects moving into our backlog, including new territories like Yemen and Angola, and growth markets, like Abu Dhabi. During the period, and in line with our diversification strategy, we also strengthened our presence in Asia increasing our ownership in Design Studio to 92%. This acquisition gives us a leading brand with which to expand into the fast growing Far East markets. We head into the fourth quarter with a more optimistic frame of mind for the coming few years.”
In the period, the Company won a number of significant mandates including the full fit out of the International Petroleum Investment Company’s new headquarters in Abu Dhabi and the refurbishment of several areas of Terminal 1 at the Abu Dhabi airport.
Further afield, Depa’s subsidiary Mivan Depa, recently announced AED 100 million worth of new contracts including the refurbishment contract for the Aden Hotel in Sana’a, the first project Depa has won in Yemen. Depa will look to use this project as an entry point to win further projects in the Country.
Depa also announced its second contract win in Angola in the third quarter undertaking the AED220m fit out and furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) of a five-star hotel in the Angolan capital. Angola, and the greater Central-African region, is continuing to make significant economic reforms, and is recording strong economic growth, presenting a number of opportunities for Depa to explore.