First Bahrain, a leading Kuwaiti real estate development company, has posted a loss of KD2.41 million ($8.27 million) in 2009, which it attributed solely to a conservative reduction in the value of its land bank in Bahrain.

“Despite this loss, First Bahrain finished 2009 with its current assets being 8 times greater than its total liabilities, highlighting the solid liquidity of the company and its debt free position,” said Salah Al-Wuhaib, chairman of First Bahrain at the bank’s annual general meeting held recently at the company’s head office Kuwait City.

Highlights of 2009 included the successful completion of Phase I of First Bahrain’s Majaal, Bahrain’s first small to medium enterprises (SME)-focused warehousing and logistics facility that was completed on time and on budget, a statement said.

Leasing commenced earlier this year and both local and international companies have already signed on as tenants, it added.

“Phase I of Majaal was named the best industrial property in Bahrain at the 2009 Gulf Real Estate Awards,” Al-Wuhaib said.

The chairman also noted that in the face of sustained uncertainty, First Bahrain embarked on a defensive strategy for the year, seeking to control costs and structure the company for future growth.

In this regard, a petition was filed for the subdivision of First Bahrain’s 236,000 sq ft of land in the Seef district of Bahrain, subdividing the plot into seven smaller areas, ranging in size from 21,000 to 77,000 sq ft, the statement said.

The newly subdivided plots will offer the company flexibility to develop or sell the land in phases, in keeping with market conditions. Likewise, the provision taken on the value of the land better positions the company to structure an economically viable land sale or joint venture in the year ahead, according to the statement.

“In 2010, we will continue to build the follow-on phases of Majaal, and study the possibility of activating the planned commercial and residential mixed-use development for our land at Janabiya, with an eye on opportunistic acquisitions as conditions warrant,” Al-Wuhaib concluded. – TradeArabia News Service