•  Aldar Investment’s Q4 revenue grew 7% YoY to AED 927 million, with full-year revenue increasing 6% compared to 2020, reaching AED 3.28 billion.
• Net Operating Income increased 11% YoY, reaching AED 1.72 billion for the year, mainly driven by strong performance of the retail portfolio, substantial recovery in the hospitality and leisure business, and increased enrolments in the education business.
•  The Investment Properties portfolio’s full-year NOI held firm at AED 1.3 billion. Occupancy across the portfolio of diversified properties increased to 93% from 88% a year earlier.
  • Residential NOI for the full year decreased 2% YoY to AED 460 million, mainly due to our programmatic strata unit sales strategy and the expiry of Khalidiya Village leasehold. The overall portfolio showed continued strength, reaching average occupancy of 93%, up from 87% in 2020.
  •  Retail NOI increased 4% YoY to AED 439 million in 2021, mainly attributed to higher occupancy. Yas Mall achieved 97% occupancy at the end of December, up 16% from a year earlier, with the introduction of new and unique concepts and offerings as part of the successful mall repositioning and redevelopment. In addition, occupancy at the community retail assets saw an increase of 17% from last year to reach 95%, mainly due to the ramp up in Mamsha Al Saadiyat retail. The retail segment’s weighted average unexpired lease terms (WAULT) increased by 38%, demonstrating the long-term leases secured during the year.
  • Commercial full-year NOI declined 7% YoY to AED 396 million due to a reduction in revenue in Operative Villages and a one-off income recognised in 2020. The commercial portfolio registered strong leasing growth, ending the year at 93% occupancy, driven by solid leasing in both International Towers and Aldar’s flagship HQ building.
  • The robust fundamentals of the Investment Properties portfolio make the business an attractive recurring income platform. This was reinforced by Apollo Global Management’s AED 3.68 billion investment into the Investment Properties business in Q1 2022 - the deal also included an additional AED 1.47 billion investment into a land joint venture with Aldar Properties. 
• The Hospitality and Leisure business recovered substantially thanks to the global easing of travel and event restrictions, posting a full-year EBITDA of AED 77 million, up 126% YoY. Strong growth in Q4 was driven by excellent performance during the Formula One event and the holiday season.
• Aldar Education reported a 42% increase in full-year EBITDA to AED 145.9 million. Following an increase in enrolments, Aldar Education reached over 26,000 pupils in total, the highest since its inception. In Q1 2022, the education business also committed to over AED 1 billion in investments to diversify its portfolio of schools and increase the number of students to more than 40,000 by the 2024-2025 academic year.
• The Principal Investments business witnessed 62% like-for-like increase in EBITDA for the year, excluding Pivot, reaching AED 58.0 million. This was largely driven by Aldar’s property management company Provis seeing a significant increase in new contracts. Currently, Provis includes a portfolio of 55,000 residential units, 490,000 Gross Leasable Area (GLA) of retail assets, and 318,000 sqm of commercial assets under management.
  

FY Corporate Highlights

  ESG: Upholding Sustainability Standards

• During 2021, Aldar recirculated AED 8.8 billion to the local economy through the National In-Country Value Programme.
•  Aldar’s ESG focus saw the company secure the region’s first sustainability-linked loan, with the AED 300 million five-year facility linked to the company’s sustainability performance. Aldar also became the first entity to open a sustainable bank account in the UAE through Standard Chartered.
• Aldar also joined the United Nations Global Compact, adopted the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures framework, and achieved the highest ESG rating amongst publicly listed real estate developers in the UAE.  In Q4, Aldar boosted its inclusion efforts through an agreement with Zayed Higher Organisation to enhance career opportunities and accessibility for people of determination at both a corporate level and across the company’s communities and developments.

Innovation: Supporting, Nurturing and Investing in New Ideas and Tech

• During 2021, Aldar launched the second cycle of its Scale Up programme, which is one of the UAE’s first programmes to attract international start-ups with technologies that have the potential to shape the open metaverse. Aldar also looked to support innovative retail SMEs through its Manassah programme, a six-month entrepreneurship incubator aimed at advancing homegrown retail concepts in the GCC.
• Aldar boosted its exposure to international PropTech startups through investment into a selection of global VC funds, including Fifth Wall, CamberCreek, PI Labs, and Moderne Ventures. These funds allow Aldar to quickly and rationally assess co-investment opportunities within the funds’ startup portfolios, while also enabling the company to identify startups for pilot trials.
• The company also signed an agreement with Majid Al Futtaim to collaborate on the digitalisation of real estate transactions to make property purchases, sales, and management a simple and convenient process for both UAE-based and overseas customers.

People: Empowering Employees in the Workplace

• Boosting its efforts to develop the next generation of talent in Abu Dhabi, Aldar committed to hiring and training 1,000 UAE nationals by 2026. Currently, UAE nationals represent 35.5% of Aldar’s employees, an increase of 6 percentage points compared to 2020.
•  Aldar was also named as a top 10 employer for the working environment it has created for women by ‘Great Place to Work’.

Customers: Enhancing Experience

• Aldar's NPS results witnessed a 10% improvement compared to 2020, while its loyalty programme, Darna increased to 57,000 members in 2021.
•  Aldar committed AED 500 million to its Yas Mall asset, redeveloping the mall to improve and transform the retail experience and enhance the customer journey.