Dubai’s Emaar Properties Q1 profit rises 15%

Dubai’s Emaar Properties, builder of the world’s tallest tower, reported a 15 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit on Sunday, broadly in line with analysts’ expectations.

The developer, in which Dubai’s government owns a minority stake, made a net profit of Dhs1.384bn ($376.9m) in the three months to March 31, it said in a statement.

That compares with a profit of Dhs1.205bn in the corresponding period last year, the company said.

SICO Bahrain and EFG Hermes had forecast Emaar would make a quarterly profit of Dhs1.424bn and Dhs1.35bn respectively.

Quarterly revenue was Dhs4.072bn, against Dhs3.529bn a year earlier.

Recurring revenue, from the likes of hotel, entertainment and shopping mall operations, contributed 39 per cent of the group revenue, Emaar said. First-quarter property sales jumped 44 per cent year on year to Dhs6.049bn, it said, with a project backlog of Dhs46.245bn to be recognised as revenue in the “next few years”.

The company “has seen an increase in property sales in Dubai,” chairman Mohamed Alabbar said in the statement.

The total value of property transactions in Dubai jumped 45 per cent year on year in the first quarter to $21bn, according to the Dubai Land Department.

Alabbar said on March 6 that he hoped for a better year after a “tough” 2016