Dubai-based retail and leisure developer and operator Majid Al Futtaim has reported an increase in revenue of one per cent across the group while expanding its portfolio of malls and cinemas across the UAE and Africa.
The increase in H1 revenue to AED17.9bn came despite challenging market conditions and a more cost-conscious consumer behaviour across the region. EBITDA increased by one per cent to AED2.1bn. The company said that its financial achievements were due to its efforts to meet the evolving needs and demands of its customers, while mitigating risk and ensuring sustainable growth. This has led to diversification of its business model and further expansion of its offerings across geographies.
“The strength and durability of our business has been a key factor in our financial performance for the first half of 2019, demonstrating the importance of diversification,” said Alain Bejjani, chief executive officer at MAF.
“While we continue to make essential investments in talent and technology, I am also encouraged by the progress we are making towards our sustainability agenda, which is allowing us to have a positive influence on the economies, communities and societies where we do business.”
Throughout 2019, MAF continued the expansion of its core businesses across the region with the addition of 19 new Carrefour stores, two new shopping malls, and 65 new VOX Cinemas screens.
The company’s digital transformation saw greater online penetration through its VOX Cinemas brand during the first half of the year. Fifty-nine per cent of all ticket sales at its theatres were completed online, compared to 46 in 2018, while all tickets in Saudi Arabia were sold online in 2019.
MAF’s market share in the revitalised Saudi cinema saw it launch 49 new screens. Of the 600 screens committed to Saudi Arabia by 2023, Majid Al Futtaim has already opened 53. In total, VOX Cinemas opened 65 new screens across the region during the first half of the year.
The company’s shopping malls, where it operates its Magic Planet brand of FECs, welcomed more than 100 million visitors in the first half of the year, while the total occupancy of malls remained strong at 93 per cent. A total of 25 locations are now on MAF’s books with the opening of City Centre Suhar in Oman, and My City Centre Masdar in Abu Dhabi, which is the company’s first shopping mall in Abu Dhabi and the capital’s most sustainable mall.
The second half of 2019 will see the company continue the expansion of its core businesses, with City Centre Almaza soon opening in East Cairo, Egypt, while its supermarket brand Carrefour will be opening its first store in Uganda.
