Dubai Properties Group revenue to rise in 2015 – CEO

Dubai Properties Group (DPG), a real estate developer owned by the emirate’s ruler, will increase its revenue in 2015 and a rising population will help support residential prices, the company’s chief executive said on Sunday.

After a rocky few years around the turn of the decade when the global financial crisis helped spark a property price crash and numerous projects were mothballed, Dubai’s big property developers have been resurgent.

The sector’s outlook is “very positive – there’s an upward trend in the population internally and there’s also an influx of migrants to the city,” Abdullatif AlMulla, Dubai Properties Group chief executive, told Reuters.

“Every time we launch a new product there’s huge demand.”

DPG, Emaar Properties, Nakheel dominate Dubai’s real estate market, with the emirate’s government or ruler the largest shareholder in all three.

“We compete and cooperate because the end beneficiary is Dubai,” said AlMulla, who was appointed CEO this month.

Emaar has posted rising profits in nine straight quarters, while Nakheel – which agreed a $16bn debt restructuring in August 2011 – last month said its profit for the first-half of 2015 increased 53 per cent.

Residential prices have slipped slightly this year following gains of 51 per cent and 3.4 per cent in 2013 and 2014 respectively, according to consultants Cluttons.

AlMulla said he did not expected prices to decline in the rest of 2015.

He said the company’s 2015 profit and revenue will be higher than in 2014, but declined to provide further details.

DPG’s results are included within those of Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group. These show the latter’s real estate revenue was Dhs 9.14bn ($2.49bn) in 2014, up 18 per cent year-on-year, but these amounts include revenue from other subsidiaries with property interests not just those of DPG.

AlMulla said his company’s revenues were split roughly evenly between property sales and income from leasing residential, commercial and retail units to tenants, predicting this balance would remain stable.

“Retail has always been important because it’s an integrated part of our projects. We will do more retail based on customer demand,” said AlMulla.

The company has no near-term plans to refinance debt, go public or build projects outside of Dubai, he added.