Abdullatif Al Shelash is a financial expert who has been instrumental in Saudis obtaining home loans, thanks to his involvement in Saudi Home Loans. In its 2022 Q1 earnings report, the company announced a 61% jump in net profit when compared to 2021’s fourth-quarter earnings.
In a year-over-year comparison, the company also noted its net profit jumped by 9.8% in Q1 2022, or 32.4 million Saudi riyals ($8.6 million).
Abdullatif Al Shelash and the rest of the board have reason to be proud. Al Shelash says SHL promotes more Saudi Arabian homeownership. “Saudi Home Loans was one of the very first mortgage companies to be established in Saudi, and I was a founding member,” Abdullatif Al Shelash says.
With more than 18 years of industry experience, Sheikh Abdullatif Al Shelash says keeping Saudi Home Loans going strong despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic was a Herculean feat — but one the company successfully tackled.
In its 2021 annual report of the board of directors, Saudi Home Loans indicated that the company has been able to continue building on its portfolio of projects and enhancing the quality of its real estate financing services. The decision to list 30% of the company’s shares in the Tadawul — the Saudi Stock Exchange — has also strengthened the brand’s growth efforts. Saudi Home Loans garnered an impressive $423 million in its IPO on the Saudi Stock Exchange.
Abdullatif Al Shelash And SHL’s Board Expect Continued Growth
Since Saudi Home Loans began in 2007, it’s been a pioneer in the Islamic housing market, helping Saudi clients finance their dream homes under Islamic Sharia. When Saudi Home Loans first launched, the majority of Saudi residents were renting, with just 22% being official homeowners. That figure has drastically changed since then, with roughly 60% of Saudis owning homes since 2020. Abdullatif Al Shelash and the rest of the Saudi Home Loans board expect that number to continue to grow.
According to eatnstays.com, this year Saudi Home Loans experienced a 28% quarter-over-quarter increase in home loan sales in the first quarter of 2022. The news site also reports that commercial home loan sales in Q1 2022 expanded by 200%, compared to Q4 2021.
Saudi Home Loans’ board of directors consists of 11 members, and Abdullatif Al Shelash has been among them since 2019. Al Shelash has been working with the other board members to keep the company’s vision and objectives at the forefront of its mission. The business leader is also helping to keep Saudi Home Loans’ strategies in place alongside directing its administrative, financial, and supervisory performance.
Company records indicate that Abdullatif Al Shelash was present at all four quarterly meetings Saudi Home Loans conducted in 2021.
According to the most recent annual report of its board of directors, 2021 witnessed a significant leap in terms of developing and launching new products in the market. According to Abdullatif Al Shelash, Saudi Home Loans has always been a few steps ahead of its competitors. The company came in with the fresh approach of providing a mortgage over 15, 20, or 25 years, allowing Saudis to occupy a home before they had the total purchase price — a novel idea for the country at that time.
“This changed the concept and the minds of people that ‘I don’t need to wait,’” Abdullatif Al Shelash says.
How Saudi Home Loans Changed the Kingdom’s Real Estate Landscape
Abdullatif Al Shelash points out that Saudi Home Loans essentially changed the culture and concept of purchasing a home in Saudi Arabia by allowing people a chance to finance their property rather than having to have the complete sum up front.
Prior to his role at Saudi Home Loans, Abdullatif Al Shelash served as the managing director of the board of directors for a major real estate company, which is in partnership with Saudi Home Loans. Saudi Home Loans’ leadership says it takes pride in its partnership with the Arab National Bank the International Finance Corporation, and several other individual investors.
In addition to being on Saudi Home Loans’ board, Abdullatif Al Shelash says he was a member of the board of directors of T’azur Insurance Company, a Bahraini closed joint-stock company, from 2007 to 2020.
Abdullatif Al Shelash’s financial background led him to establish what eventually became Bank Alkhair B.S.C., a Bahraini closed joint-stock company, and Al Shelash was a member of the board of directors of that organization from 2004 to 2019.
Saudi Home Loans Proud of Sharia-Compliant Service
SHL is scrupulous about offering clients Sharia-compliant financing solutions.
In the last quarter of 2021, the company not only enhanced existing products, but introduced additional financing options and benefits for its customers, making the company an industry leader.
Throughout 2021, according to its annual report, Saudi Home Loans launched six new products, including Murabaha, an Islamic financing model for fixed rent and mortgages as well as commercial real estate financing. Saudi Home Loans also developed contracting agreements with organizations in England and abroad, expanding its reach far from the Middle East. In addition, Saudi Home Loans risk department created new policies and procedures for managing various risks, including operational, credit, liquidity, and market risks.
Saudi Home Loans has continued its social responsibility initiatives by restoring and renovating 56 houses for needy families and gaining the attention of Saudi news outlets and social media influencers.
Not only has Saudi Home Loans helped Saudi Arabia’s most vulnerable population gain access to residences, but it’s helped so many people acquire a first home, according to Abdullatif Al Shelash.
“Many people could not afford to think of buying a house to live in the city,” Al Shelash says. “[Saudi Home Loans] also helped in urbanization.”
