JEDDAH – Dar Al-Arkan has been named “Best Residential Developer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” by Euromoney magazine in its recently released “Eighth Annual Global Euromoney Real Estate Survey”. Yousef Al-Shalash, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dar Al-Arkan Real Estate Development Company, said the company is proud of being selected as the best residential developer in Saudi Arabia. He added the recognition is a direct result of the company's efforts to promote the real estate development sector in the Kingdom. The award by Euromoney, which is renowned for its professional integrity and objective criteria, is one of many awards that Dar Al-Arkan has earned in recognition of its vision and capability of high performance that is linked with the market requirements. Moreover, Al-Shalash said the company, through its hard work, strategic vision and experience, has been able to contribute in the development of high quality housing products. It has enabled Dar Al-Arkan to be the main player in the residential Saudi real estate sector. Dar Al-Arkan has constructed more than 30 projects in the Kingdom and has delivered to over 75,000 people 15,000 housing units. It has also developed over half a million square meters of lease space and over ten million square meters of developed land across the Kingdom. The chairman gave as an example the successful construction and opening of the Al-Qasr Mall, the largest shopping center in terms of leased area. The mall is part of the Al-Qasr residential project located in Riyadh. In addition, Dar Al-Arkan has achieved a SR623.6 million profit for the first half of 2012, up 9.2 percent year on year. Earlier in July, the company fulfilled its debt obligations with the repayment of SR3.75 billion corresponding to Sukuk II Islamic bond. These achievements are proof of a sound strategy, strong financial position and being a leader in the real estate market in Saudi Arabia. Selecting Dar Al-Arkan for the award, Clive Horwood, Editor of Euromoney, said “the winners of this year's Euromoney survey are those that exhibited the ability to innovate and make best use of the inherent strengths of their organization. With a fast-growing, young demographic, Saudi Arabia's challenge is to meet the increasing demand for housing, making the residential sector extremely competitive. Through the Euromoney real estate survey, the market has recognized Dar Al-Arkan as the leader in this field.” – SG
