Nakheel first-half profit 3.8% down with new projects due to open

Nakheel, the property developer behind the Palm Jumeirah, posted a 3.8 per cent year-onyear decline in first-half net profit to Dh2.51 billion, without providing a reason for the decline.

The developer handed 451 units to customers in the first six months of the year, it said yesterday. It did not provide comparable figures for the first half of 2017. The company posted a 10.5 per cent yearon-year decline in first-half net profit last year.

Nakheel’s “non-development businesses – retail, leasing, hospitality and asset management – all performed strongly”, the company said. “Annual revenues from these sectors is now Dh2.6bn – three times as much as in 2010 – and currently accounts for 38 per cent of the company’s total revenue.”

Revenue from these segments is set to grow with the completion of projects including The Pointe, due to open this year, and The Night Market, Warsan Souk, The Palm Tower and Nakheel Mall, which are due to come on line next year.

Nakheel plans to invest Dh5bn in new hotel projects over the next five years as part of a Dh27bn retail and hospitality expansion to diversify its offerings, chairman Ali Lootah said last month.

Dubai’s real estate sector softened over the past three years amid an increase in supply, lower oil prices and job cuts. Real estate deals transacted in the first half of this year fell 16 per cent year-onyear to Dh111bn, according to a report from the Dubai Land Department last month.

The UAE Government is introducing measures to prop up the economy, which should trickle down to the property sector. In May, the UAE announced a 10-year UAE expat residency for professionals and 100 per cent foreign ownership of businesses outside as well as inside the free zones.

Nakheel, which last year awarded Dh8bn worth of contracts for its developments, signed deals valued at Dh6bn in the first half of this year.