Rise in construction projects across Dubai boded well for the firm

Strong figures and favorable market climate will further see the company diversify into F&B sector and test new waters in the lifestyle space

Dubai, March 8, 2015

At the close of 2014, Danube Group announced staggering annual financial results for their business. The company recorded an annual turnover of AED 2.3 billion, with a 15% increase over 2013. In line with their annual plan of 2014, the brand quoted 16% sales growth in the starting of the year and further maintained the prominent growth rate over 2013.

In 2014, the No 1 building material company in the region also saw the exhilarating performance for their real estate division, Danube Properties which scored a revenue of AED 500 million during the year, in addition to the core business revenues of 2.3 billion.  The ever-growing residential development space, saw an exceptional investor response for the very first project by Danube: Dreamz comprising of 171 luxury townhouses located in the lush, green and well-landscaped neighborhood of Al Furjan community. With all its units being sold within a day of going on sale, the UAE-based company soon announced their next project, Glitz Residence, AED 300 million project based at Studio City, Dubai.

 "We are extremely happy to have recorded such a brilliant performance in 2014. We were a little skeptical at the start of the year, especially with the results received in Q1. It was after March where the growth curve took a steep hike, even though the market did not give any noteworthy results," commented Rizwan Sajan, Founder & Chairman, Danube Group.

Whilst, Q1 of 2014 simply saw a raise in the popularity of Danube Home, it was Q2 that the group received an overwhelming response to the sales. Majorly, 40per cent of the business revenues has come solely from the UAE, while 30 per cent from Saudi Arabia, 20 per cent from Oman and 10 per cent from other markets. "Sales started picking up from Q2, and thereafter we maintained an upward performance graph throughout the year. Our best months were June-July where the launch of our realty division gave a boost to our performance for the year." Mr. Sajan added.

The business also acknowledges the increasing investor confidence in the emirate's growth potential and development in addition to the announcement of EXPO 2020 and other major projects within the region. "With Dubai winning EXPO 2020, the business environment received a great boost. The government has already announced several new projects towards making EXPO 2020 successful event. With added infrastructure comes the need of building material, and given our strong position in the market, Danube naturally is the preferred choice of the developers," expressed Rizwan Sajan.

The strong performance in 2014 has encouraged Danube Group to further diversify into new sectors and strengthen the existing business. Where Danube has further established itself as a strong player in residential real estate market, the firm additionally plans to come up with more successful major projects. Also, after the recent rebranding of Danube Home, the company plans to unveil new showrooms in Sharjah, Qatar, Muscat and by the Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, with each showroom set to be around 50,000+ sq. feet.

"To start with, we would like to focus on consolidating our core building material business and then progressively add to our retail Danube Home showrooms. We will open two impressive showrooms of our building material division by the end of 2015. Also we will continue our foray into the real estate sector as we expect to announce our 3rd residential project very soon. This new project will primarily comprise of apartment buildings."

2015 will see broadening of the business in terms of other verticals, apart from the primary Danube Home and real estate. Danube will take a leap, by branching out in retail sector with men's fashion brand, towards the end of 2015. The launch of the first showroom is expected towards the second half of the year, with plans to expand and have three fully functional showrooms by the end of 2015. Also the success of Cha Cha Chai, a dedicated tea and snacks joint, will witness an addition of six stores in 2015. These will be in addition to the seven existing outlets that are conveniently located in popular spots within Dubai.

The company plans to gain further in their business in 2015, forecasting a growth rate of 18 to 20%, with an equal focus on the new businesses planned this year.

-Ends-

About Danube Building Materials FZCO
Established in 1993, Danube Building Materials FZCO provides more than 25,000 products in stock and in-house value added services in all of its multiple set of showrooms across the Middle East region and India. The company operates from its head offices in JAFZA with logistics facilities across the region which amounts to 5 million sq. feet and includes kiln drying facility, factory and warehouses of the group.

From a small trading firm, Danube has grown into one of the largest building materials company in the region, with its diversified branches worldwide including UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and India, in addition to procurement offices in China and Canada. Danube has a team of 2,000 plus people working across strategic locations across the GCC and India.

For further information on PR contact:
Ankita Arora
Landline: +9714 3589789
E-mail: ankita@ibuz.ae

© Press Release 2015