DUBAI: Dubai’s largest developer Emaar Properties reported a 28.6 percent rise in second-quarter net profit yesterday, marginally beating forecasts, but revenue from property sales in the emirate dropped.
The builder of the world’s tallest tower Burj Khalifa made a net profit of Dh868m ($236.3m) in the three months ending June 30, compared with Dh675m a year before, it said in a statement to Dubai’s bourse. The outcome beat an average forecast of Dh839.8m for the period. Emaar’s earnings are seen as an key indicator for Dubai’s real estate market, which has recovered in the last two years after collapsing following the global economic crisis in 2008.
However, renewed speculative buying and new project announcements have pushed up prices, making them unaffordable to many and thus slowing sales, raising fears of another property market bubble.
Property consultant JLL said in its latest report that there had been a marked slowdown in the volume of residential sales in Dubai in the second quarter.
Emaar sold properties in Dubai worth Dh3.12bn during the quarter, down from Dh3.29bn in the same quarter last year.
The company’s revenue for the quarter dropped to Dh2.81bn from Dh3.11bn, the statement said. But revenue from its malls, retail and hospitality business grew by 12 percent. Emaar Malls Group, a division of Emaar Properties, will look to sell a quarter of its shares to the public on the Dubai stock market when it lists later
this year.
Reuters
