DUBAI: Dubai's largest contractor Arabtec swung to a profit in the second-quarter, beating analysts' forecasts, on the back of business growth in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Arabtec, part-owned by Abu Dhabi state fund Aabar Investments, made a second-quarter net profit of 92.4 million dirhams or $25.16 million, compared with a loss of 11.6 million dirhams in the corresponding period in 2012, it said in a bourse statement on Thursday.
The earnings beat average estimate of five analysts polled by Reuters who expected a quarterly profit of 51.5 million dirhams.
Revenue for the second-quarter was 1.6 billion dirhams against 1.3 billion dirhams in the prior-year period.
Arabtec, which raised $650 million through a rights issue in July to support its expansion plans, has won a series of contracts this year especially in oil-rich Abu Dhabi where its top shareholder and state investment firm Aabar is based.
The company said that its agreed joint venture with Korea's Samsung Engineering that was announced in April is still in the process of being finalised. (Reuters)
