Year End 2010 Trading Update

Depa Limited (ticker DEPA) (‘Depa’ or the ‘Company’), one of world’s leading interior contracting companies, today issued the following trading update for the year ended 31 December 2010, ahead of the publication of its full year results.

The Company continued to perform through challenging markets in 2010, making solid progress delivering on its large portfolio of contracts. However, net profits will be significantly impacted due to the previously disclosed claim regarding the Burj Khalifa contract, which has been taken through the income statement. The Company’s balance sheet remains strong.

Despite the challenging economic environment that persisted throughout the year, Depa has been able to diversify its revenue base with significant new and prestigious contract wins. Consequently the Company continues to have a number of selective high quality projects and clients, which at the end of 2010 were valued at AED2.2bn (31 December 2009: AED2.1bn). 

Mr Mohannad Sweid, Chief Executive Officer, Depa Limited said: “Being at the end of the construction cycle, we have felt the impact of the economic downturn later than other areas of the construction industry. However, our selective high quality projects and clients show that we are well positioned and that revenues and profits will be underpinned in 2011 and 2012. I am also pleased to say that our strategy to diversify our income is paying off. Not only has this enabled us to weather the economic downturn, it has placed us well in future growth markets, like South East Asia, and has decreased our exposure to the current regional unrest.”

During the year, Depa announced a series of important contract wins in new territories such as Malaysia, Angola and more recently, in the fourth quarter, Syria. The latter AED72m contract, being for the complete fit-out and loose furnishings works on the five-star Yasmeen Rotana Hotel in Damascus. Depa also made strong progress in growth markets such as Abu Dhabi, winning contracts for, amongst others, the full fit out of the International Petroleum Investment Company’s new headquarters, as well as in South East Asia, where Design Studio continues to win major contracts. 

Top Backlog Projects List

The below list represents Depa’s top 41 backlog projects.

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ABOUT DEPA LIMITED

Depa Limited is a leading interior contracting company in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia regions. Operating principally in the luxury fit-out industry, its main areas of business cover luxury hotels, infrastructure and public sector amenities such as hospitals and airports, high-end residential properties, retail outlets, as well as yachts. Depa is listed on the NASDAQ Dubai (ticker DEPA) and has Global Depositary Receipts on the regulated market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange plc (ticker DEPA and DEPS).

The range of business activities performed by Depa comprises:

·         Interior contracting : which focuses on luxury interior fit-out services, which include installation and finishing of floors, walls, ceilings, fixed joinery, panelling, wood-works, doors and frames;

·         Manufacturing : which comprises a network of factories and joineries which produce customized furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E);

·         Procurement : which involves the procurement of supplies and materials from third parties to support and complement Depa's interior contracting and manufacturing operations as well as third party procurement contracts for specific FF&E projects.

By integrating these services into a single package, Depa provides clients with comprehensive and customized interior contracting solutions.

With more than 8,000 employees worldwide, the company operates through an integrated network of subsidiaries, affiliates and representative offices located in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Libya, Morocco, India, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Singapore, UK, the Netherlands, and the United States. Through this network, Depa has successfully executed large and complex projects in over 16 countries including the Burj Al Arab Hotel (Dubai), Emirates Palace (Abu Dhabi), the Museum of Islamic Art (Doha), Four Seasons Hotels (Sharm El Sheikh & Mumbai) and Mazagan Resort (Casablanca).