EMAAR PROPERTIES BEATS PROFIT FORECASTS

▶ Dubai’s biggest listed developer posts 14% jump in Q2 earnings

Emaar Properties, the developer behind Burj Khalifa, posted a 14 per cent jump in second quarter net profit, beating analysts’ forecasts, as it benefited from higher profit margins on real estate.

Net profit attributable to equity owners in the three months ending in June reached Dh1.45 billion compared with Dh1.27bn a year earlier. For the first half, net profit surged 15 per cent to Dh2.83bn from Dh2.47bn a year earlier.

Second-quarter revenue increased 1.8 per cent to Dh3.79bn from Dh3.72bn a year earlier.

The company also quadrupled its “other income” to Dh205.1m during the second quarter from Dh51.9m a year earlier.

The results beat estimates from Bahrain-based investment bank Sico, which had projected second quarter net profit of Dh1.3 bn.

“Two factors here drove yearon-year earnings: first higher profit margins of the core real estate segment [which includes villa/apartment construction as well as land sales] and second [higher] non-core other Income,” said Ayub Ansari, a senior analyst at Sico.

The real estate business accounted for 62 per cent of total revenue in the second quarter, with the remainder coming from leasing and other activities, and hospitality.

Emaar’s total backlog now stands at Dh49.5bn, with over Dh40bn concentrated in Dubai.

Its property sales in the first half soared 22 per cent to Dh10.81bn from Dh8.9bn a year earlier.

The sales increase was generated from residential launches that included Downtown Views II and Vida Dubai Mall in Downtown Dubai, Vida Residences in Dubai Marina, Creek Gate, Harbour Gate and Creek Rise in Dubai Creek Harbour, Park Heights I & II and Maple 3 in Dubai Hills Estate and Golf Views apartments and Urbana III stacked town houses in Emaar South.

Emaar’s international revenue, which contributed 22 per cent to total revenue, rose 64 per cent in the first half to Dh1.69bn from Dh1.03bn a year earlier, thanks to projects in Egypt, Turkey, India and Saudi Arabia, among others.

The company reiterated its intention to list up to 30 per cent of its real estate business on the Dubai Financial Market, but did not give a time frame for the initial public offering.

The flotation is the third for a business unit of Emaar, Dubai’s biggest listed developer. In 2014, the company floated its Emaar Malls business on the DFM and in 2015 its Egyptian unit debuted on the Cairo stock market.

Emaar Malls, operator of The Dubai Mall, posted higher-than-expected net profit for the second quarter, even as rental revenues fell on a quarterly basis.

The malls operator, whose portfolio includes the Gold & Diamond Park, said this month that net profit for the quarter rose to Dh482m, a year-on-year increase of 5 per cent, thanks to a fall in operating expenses and sales and marketing costs.

Profits came in slightly ahead of an average analyst forecast of Dh467m.

Emaar’s international revenue, which contributed 22% to total revenue, rose 64% in the first half to Dh1.69bn from Dh1.03bn a year earlier