By Nkiruka Nnorom

UACN Property Development Company (UPDC) Plc has reiterated its commitment to long  term value creation for the benefit of its stakeholders.
The Chairman of the Company, Mr Larry Ettah, who stated this while addressing shareholders at the Company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, said the company has put strategies in place to enable it take advantage of emerging opportunities in the market place.

He noted that the Nigerian market remained attractive as there were significant untapped potentials in the residential segment, and numerous opportunities in the hospitality, retail, commercial and industrial segments of the  market in the near term.

He, however, pointed out that the challenges being faced by the operators in the real estate in terms of title uncertainties, high cost of funding, inadequate mortgage financing and poor infrastructure were expected to persist in the medium term and would continue to prevent effective demand in the low/medium residential market segments.

Speaking on the financial performance, he noted that despite the challenging business environment, the company posted N10.08 billion in revenue (Group N11.70bilion) as against N9.33 billion posted in the year ended December 31, 2013 (Group N11.29billion).

Profit before taxation (PBT), according to him, was N2.04 billion (Group N3.54 billion) against N4.38 billion (Group N3.71billion) recorded in 2013.

Following the performance, the Board of Directors recommended a dividend of N859.38 million, representing 50 kobo per ordinary share held by members as at August 14, 2015, which was overwhelmingly approved by shareholders during the meeting.

Providing details on the company’s plan for the future, he said, “Our strategy for 2015 and beyond include deleveraging the business through equity capital injection, disposal of the surplus stake currently held in UPDC REIT (21.5 per cent) to generate liquidity and re-creating our products portfolio to include more commercial and retail offerings which have proven to be more resilient revenue sources in periods of depression.”

Commenting on the operational environment, he noted that in recent years, foreign private equity firms have invested millions of dollars in the Nigerian real estate market, attributing the interest in the country’s market to huge demand, which is driven by increasing urban population and changing shopping culture among the expanding middle class.

He said: “The real estate market is gradually rebounding and has experienced reasonable growth and performance in the last few years.”
This performance is largely driven by the re-emergence of the Nigerian middle-class and the increasing demand for decent residential and commercial accommodation by high net-worth individuals, corporate organisations and key players in the retail segment of the economy.”