S&T eyes 50% turnover from UAE expansion

Services & Trade Company (S&T), the $50 million (Dh183.5m) flagship of the Sobha Group, yesterday said it will expand its presence in the UAE with focus on the hospitality sector, with 50 per cent of turnover to come from the UAE over the next two years.

S&T executives said the company has a "healthy pipeline of major hospitality projects", this year, which will add value to its portfolio.

"We are looking at doubling our turnover every year thanks to the tremendous opportunity the UAE hospitality sector offers in terms of the increasing number of hotel and tourism related developments with a reportedly committed cumulative investment to the tune of $70bn," said S&T Director Waqas Suleiman Al Adawi. "We are confident that S&T with its track record of cutting-edge professionalism and relentless focus on quality will be able to create new benchmarks in interiors decoration. So far we have successfully completed a number of prestigious projects in the UAE and are currently adding new major hospitality projects to this portfolio at a rapid pace," he said.

S&T is looking at increasing its business turnover to $200 million in the next two years, expecting half of it to come from hospitality projects in the UAE.

The company has to its credit an unmatched reputation in creating interiors for palaces, mosques and hospitality projects across the Arabian Gulf since its establishment in 1976.

"The exponential growth in travel and tourism in the UAE with an estimated contribution of more than 18 per cent to the national GDP has triggered the expansion of the market. Dubai continues to lead the industry as the tourism and business hub but significant developments worth billions of dollars are taking place in Abu Dhabi. Ras Al Khaimah is also keeping up an accelerated pace in the development of hospitality projects spurred by its increasing tourism potential," Al Adawi said.

He said that such expansion of the market will support S&T's aggressive expansion plans in the UAE's hospitality market.

"As an interiors entity well-known in the regional market with a number of signature projects in our portfolio and high-level credentials, we are confident to deepen our presence in the UAE further. Over the years we have been credited with a single-minded focus on globally benchmarked quality standards and this has been the driving force of our growth strategy," Al Adawi said, adding that such positive reputation has helped S&T's Dubai office grow from strength to strength.

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