DIFC Investments (DIFCI), the investment arm of the firm that runs Dubai's financial free zone, posted a narrower 2010 loss on Sunday, pulled into the red by its real estate portfolio, and said it will sell assets this year, including financial software firm SmartStream.    

The company posted a loss of $272 million, compared with $562 million in 2009.

"The loss in 2010 was mainly attributable to the devaluation  of the real estate portfolio due to the market conditions," Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer, DIFC Investments chairman, said in a  statement.    

Among the assets the company plans to dispose of in 2011 is SmartStream Technologies which it acquired in 2007.    

In October, Reuters reported that DIFC Investments was looking for a buyer for SmartStream and had hired UBS to help with the sale. SmartStream helps investment banks and fund managers with the back and middle-office processing of stock, bond and derivative trades.

"Management expects that the disposal of D-Clear would be completed in 2011," DIFCI said in its financial statement.  According to financial statements, D-Clear Europe is the holding company of SmartStream.    

DIFCI also plans to complete the sale of high-end Kuwaiti fashion retailer Villa Moda in 2011 having indicated its intention to sell the company in 2009.

"During 2010, certain circumstances arose which were considered unlikely and as a result, Villa Moda was not sold by the end of the current financial year," it said, adding management expects a sale during 2011.

DIFC Investments has been grappling with a debt pile of more than an $3 billion, hurt mainly by a fall in the value of its investments.

Revenue slipped to $146.3 million last year, from $152.2 million in the prior-year period. Its financial statements showed that it has extended repayment of two $500 million loans due to the government of Dubai.

Repayment on one of the loans - split equally between May 2011 and May 2013 - has been deferred to 2014, while interest  payments on the second loan, due 2013 in one installment, have  been suspended for 18 months from March 2010.

The firm, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dubai International  Financial Centre Authority, has a $1.25 billion Islamic bond, or  sukuk, due in 2012.  - Reuters