Nakheel Repays Dhs197m To Lenders

Dubai-based property developer Nakheel announced that it made interest payments of Dhs197 million to its bank lenders.

In a statement, the company said the move was in “compliance with its restructuring requirements.”

A spokesman said: “We remain focused on meeting our commitments in accordance with the terms set out in our company restructure and revised business plan.”

State-owned Nakheel, badly hit by debts during the financial crisis and the subsequent property crash in Dubai in 2008/2009, was forced to undergo a restructuring process in 2010. But it is now starting to recover losses.

Earlier this year, Nakheel chairman Ali Rashid Lootah said that the company was holding “serious discussions” with three local and international banks to refinance its Dhs8 billion ($2.2 billion) debt maturing in 2015.

The company aims to sign the deal for an extended loan by the end of the year, he told reporters.

It has also settled Dhs6.5 billion worth of claims made by trade creditors, and hopes to sort out the remaining Dhs1.5 billion by the first quarter of 2014.

“We only paid 15 per cent on average, amounting to around Dhs1 billion, so far,” said Lootah.

The developer made a net profit of Dhs1.2 billion in the first half of 2013, a 57 per cent rise compared to Dhs767 million in H1 2012. Revenues rose to Dhs4.23 billion, up 36 per cent year-on-year, mainly because of the handover of properties and improved performance of Nakheel’s retail, leasing and leisure business units.

The developer delivered around 1,400 properties in H1 2013 and has said it is on course to deliver an estimated 3,000 units in 2013.