Emaar Properties second-quarter net profit more than doubles on revenue boost

Dubai’s largest listed developer Emaar Properties more than doubled its second-quarter net profit as sales revenue climbed amid a strong rebound in the UAE’s property market.

Net profit attributable to owners of the company for the three-month period to the end of June climbed more than 128 per cent on an annual basis to Dh2.06 billion ($561.3 million), Emaar Properties said in a bourse filing to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are traded.

Quarterly earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) jumped 53 per cent to Dh2.93bn. Revenue during the April-June period rose 8 per cent year-on-year to 6.94bn.

“We have delivered strong second quarter results of Emaar by successfully carrying on the momentum built during the first quarter of 2022," an Emaar representative said in a statement.

"Thanks to the post-pandemic uptick in the real estate market and strong recovery of our mall, hospitality and retail assets, which increased our second quarter profit this year."

Net profit attributable to owners of the company for the first half of the year surged 175.6 per cent yearly to Dh4.30bn, while revenue soared almost 10 per cent to Dh13.57bn.

Dubai's property market has made a strong recovery from the pandemic-driven slowdown as the UAE's economy improves, helped by fiscal and monetary measures.

The market registered 25,972 property transactions in the first quarter of this year, the highest number of quarterly deals since 2010, according to Mo’asher, the emirate’s official sales price index issued by the Dubai Land Department in partnership with Property Finder.

The market also recorded the highest number of sales in the month of July in the past 12 years, a report by Property Finder released this week showed.

A total of 7,092 sales transactions at an overall value of Dh21bn were registered in July. Sales transaction volumes were up 63.5 per cent on an annual basis, while the value of transactions increased by 88.4 per cent, the report said.

Emaar Development, the build-to-sell property development business majority-owned by Emaar Properties, reported its highest ever property sales during the first half this year, underpinned by recent successful launches.

Property sales in the January-June period reached Dh15.2bn, an annual jump of nearly 10 per cent from Dh13.8bn in the prior year period. Emaar Development launched 15 projects in various master plans in the first half.

“Due to this exceptional performance, Emaar now has a robust sales backlog of Dh32.8bn, which will be recognised as future revenue for the business,” the company said.

As of June, the company had delivered more than 55,100 residential units, with over 26,100 residences currently under development in the UAE.

Emaar Development delivered more than 3,100 residential units during first half across various locations, including Dubai Hills Estate, Dubai Creek Harbour, Downtown Dubai, Emaar Beachfront, Arabian Ranches and Emaar South.

Emaar said its revenue from the hospitality division rose 37.3 per cent to Dh332.46 million, while the real estate arm’s sales remained almost flat at Dh4.83bn. Its leasing and related activities’ revenue surged 35.7 per cent to Dh1.78bn.

“Our unwavering determination to deliver premium projects to the market, cashflow generation and a strong pipeline of future projects have underlined our highest ever quarterly sales during the second quarter,” the company’s representative said.

“We are continuing to see investor demand for holistic master-planned developments, which has enabled us to achieve our strongest first-half growth on record in 2022.”

Emaar Properties on Thursday announced it would fully acquire Dubai Creek Harbour from Dubai Holding for Dh7.5bn. The amount will be paid equally in cash and shares of Emaar Properties, thus making Dubai Holding the second largest shareholder of Emaar. The deal is expected to close on September 27.

Dubai Creek Harbour, a major development on the emirate's coastline, features 78.5 million square feet of residential space and is expected to house 200,000 people when complete.