Sunday, Nov 27, 2011
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Dubai-based jewelry firm Damas International said first half net profit surged to 24.7 million U.A.E. dirhams ($6.7 million), from AED992,000 a year ago, as the retailer sold more gold bullion and pearl jewellery.
The firm, in a brief statement posted on the Nasdaq Dubai website Sunday, said group revenue in the six months ended Sept. 30 amounted to AED1.6 billion, up from AED1.3 billion in the year earlier period. Gold bullion and jewellery income rose 29% to AED1.8 billion, while revenue from the sale of pearl jewelery surged 40% to AED54.6 million.
In September, Damas said it had signed several agreements to recover more than AED337 million in outstanding payments. In May it finalised a cascade agreement with Tawhid, Tamjid and Tawfique Abdullah, Damas Real Estate and a number of bank creditors of the Abdullah brothers, a key condition in the restructuring of about $872 million of debt.
In March 2010, Dubai's Financial Services Authority fined Damas, and the Abdullah brothers a total of $3.72 million and ordered them to repay $99.4 million plus the value of approximately 1.9 million grams of gold after it found they had withdrawn Damas funds for their personal use without disclosing it to the board.
Damas said Sunday that the amounts due from the Abdullah Brothers are expected to be collected during the three-year period as per the cascade agreement entered into with them.
-By Tim Falconer, Dow Jones Newswires; +9714 446-1690; tim.falconer@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
27-11-11 0612GMT
