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Chairmans Message |
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On behalf of the board of directors
and myself, it gives me great pleasure to highlights the achievements and challenge
of the year 2008.
By all measures, 2008 was a challenging year. The financial turmoil which occurred
in the United States of America, left reputable institutions in tremendous losses.
It is clear that the threat of this global market recession will only aggravate
the existing situation in and around the Gulf region; hence, continuous cost control
and specific planned investments are required to mitigate the inevitable revenue
declines that this recession might bring.
However, expectations of the market to bounce back are strong in the mid-end of
2009 with positive signs of recovery in Oil prices. Thereby, allowing recoveries
in the many world economies and their respective stock exchanges.
I would like to remind you all that keeping the current scenario in mind (KBT),
with its limited exposure in US markets and focussed approached on all sectors of
the real estate market around the GCC, has aided in weathering the turbulence with
fortitude, guided by its experienced management.
The true test of a company is its ability to stay in business, to be successful
over a long period of time and make it through these challenging times; KBT continues
to retain its existing credit rating from Financial Institutions as it has not accrued
any additional debts.
However, experiencing the downfall of the economy, KBT had a few Achievements as
well
The year 2008 started on a good note, in the first quarter, we had sold the Al Liwan
project in Dubai (UAE) and succeeded to achieve a 74% Return on Investment
Kuwait Business Town successfully got listed on 16th of December 2008 at the Kuwait
Stock Exchange. This is a significant step in the fast track recovery process as
a real estate company listed in Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) allows their shares
to be actively traded, which in turn will imply that the company brings confidence
to the traders and potential investors.
In Dubai (UAE) we acquired land at Jebel Ali Free trade zone area (JAFZA) to build
a Labour camp. This is a project which the company expects to yield record profits
in the near future. Please note that the construction works have already commenced
and ongoing as per plan.
On this note, I would also like to express my heartfelt gratitude on behalf of the
KBT Board of Directors, management and myself to our shareholders for their continuous
support and confidence in the KBT Management.
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