Dubai developer Damac Properties posts 88% drop in nine-month net profit

Dubai’s Damac Properties recorded a 88 per cent drop in net profit for the first nine months of 2019.

Net profits for the first three quarters of this year totalled Dhs133m compared to Dhs1.093bn during the same period in 2018.

Total revenues for the first nine months of 2019 reached Dhs2.8bn, with booked sales reported at Dhs2.4bn for the same period, a statement said.

Damac’s cash and bank balances stood at Dhs5bn for the first nine months of the year, dropping 19.3 per cent from Dhs6.2bn during the same period last year.

Damac delivered 3,072 units in the first nine months of 2019, inclusive of the first ever handover in AKOYA, its largest master development, the statement said.

As of September 30, 2019, Damac Properties has delivered nearly 27,400 units. The company runs a portfolio of nearly 40,000 units at multiple levels of progress and planning, the statement added.

“We continue to focus on delivering projects that are already in the development pipeline, and we are well on our way to achieving our target of 4,000 unit deliveries by the end of 2019,” said Hussain Sajwani, chairman, Damac Properties.

“We fully support the government’s focus on the need for stability and balance in the real estate market through the establishment of the Higher Committee for Real Estate Planning.”

Last month, Sajwani also called for freezing all new home construction for one or two years in Dubai to avert a “disaster” in the market.

“All we need is just to freeze the supply,” Sajwani told Bloomberg. “Reduce it for a year, maybe 18 months, maybe 2 years,” he said.

Read more: Dubai should briefly ‘freeze’ residential supply to balance market – Damac chief