RIYADH: UAE-based Al Habtoor Group recorded a robust performance for the first half of 2022, with a year-on-year growth of 19 percent in revenues, its founding Chairman Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor announced in a statement. The firm also witnessed a 36 percent increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the first half of the year compared to the same period of 2021, he said. Al Habtoor said: “We had a good year in 2021 where we saw a very promising recovery post-Covid, and I predicted last November an even better 2022. “I am delighted to announce that this year did not disappoint. The revenues in our business"s various divisions surpassed the previous year"s recovery and pre-COVID times. “Numbers don’t lie.” He went on to say: “Habtoor Hospitality’s year-to-date forecast for first half of 2022 registered an 82 percent increase in revenues over the same period in 2021, and 190 percent in EBITDA, triggered by an overall increase in bookings in town and an ADR-focused policy,” he added. Dubai welcomed 7.12 million visitors in the first six months of 2022, up 183 percent year on year, according to the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. Revenue per available room rose to 540 dirhams ($147.02) in the first half of the year, 21 percent higher than in the first half of 2019, despite a 22 percent increase in the number of hotel rooms in the Emirate since then, as reported by DTCM. “Al Habtoor Motors, our automotive division, maintains its world’s number one distributor position for Bentley, Bugatti and Mitsubishi, with double-digit revenue growth of 34 percent for the first half of 2022, and a 190 percent growth in the EBITDA compared to last year,” Al Habtoor said. The Group’s car leasing division Diamondlease, with a fleet of more than 12,700 vehicles, declared an increase in revenues of more than 52 percent in the first half of this year compared to last year, with more than 91 percent utilization, according to the statement. “We have doubled our fleet size over the past two years in Diamondlease, and have reshaped our revenue structure, focusing more on the used-car sales and enhancing the client’s experience,” Al Habtoor commented. He continued: “I trust this success will continue for the second half and propagate to 2023. We are on the right track; I am optimistic about our future. We are never entirely satisfied. “Our dreams and goals exceed what the world expects from us. I hope they will learn from our successful example.” Dubai-based hotelier and leisure group AHG operates in the UAE and international markets including London, Vienna, Budapest, Beirut and the US.