Sorouh exec team earned US$4.1m last year

Sorouh Real Estate, Abu Dhabi’s second-biggest developer, paid its management team a total of AED15.2m (US$4.14m) in compensation and incentives last year, the company said in a governance report today. The developer’s managing director Abubaker Al-Khouri earned AED4.7m in 2011, while COO Gurjit Singh gained AED3m. CFO Richard J Amos and chief commercial officer Fahad Al Ketbi each earned AED2.6m. Chief strategy officer Paul H Warren earned AED2.3m, according to the report posted on Abu Dhabi’s bourse today. The report listed the executives by their titles only but a spokesman for the company confirmed their names. Sorouh and larger competitor Aldar Properties on March 11 said they are studying the possibility of a merger with the “blessing” of the emirate’s government. A team, set up by both companies, will present a plan in the next three months. Government-owned Mubadala Development holds 49 percent of Aldar while the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund, has a 7 percent stake in Sorouh. Sorouh’s shares fell 0.8 percent to AED1.22 yesterday. The stock has surged 44 percent so far this year. Aldar’s closed unchanged yesterday, while the developer’s shares climbed 46 percent so far this year.