Dubai – Mubasher: Amlak Finance said it is well-positioned to resume its operations and achieve long-term growth and value for shareholders, ahead of its expected return to the Dubai bourse in early June.

The sharia-compliant lender said it has taken a number of measures in recent years to ensure long-term sustainability and growth and limit business risks, and is certain that it will continue to generate annual profits and will focus on its basic operations of real-estate financing, according to a filing to the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on Monday.

Amlak was suspended from trading on 20 November 2008, when it last traded at AED 1.02, having dropped 79% in six months on the backdrop of the financial crisis, which heavily impacted the DFM, especially the real estate sector.

Last week, Amlak’s board approved the return of shares to trading on the DFM, starting 2 June.

Ahead of its return, Amlak said it plans to “put itself back into a leadership position as a premier and specialised property financing provider in the UAE,” and has taken steps to launch new products, value-added services and innovative financing solutions to its existing and new customers.

“Amlak will focus on the core business of property financing, as well as reducing exposure to proprietary real estate assets, to better manage and mitigate financial risk,” the filing said.

The company has reduced its workforce by more than 60% from its level in 2008, reduced potential fair value losses and avoided substantial cash outflow thanks to a well-managed exit from real estate purchase commitments worth AED 2 billion, Amlak said.

Amlak reported a 62.8% drop in net profits for the first quarter of 2015 to AED 6 million ($1.6 million), compared to AED 16.37 million ($4.46 million) during the same period in 2014.

Net profits attributable to shareholders of the parent company, after deducting the non-controlling stake, dropped 76% in Q1-15 to AED 3.72 million, from AED 15.88 million in Q1-14.