Dubai property developers report mixed 2017 earnings

Emaar's profit climbs, Damac's income slumps, Union properties swings to losses

Damac Properties's full year 2017 profit drops 25 per cent. Saeed Azhar / Reuters

The full-year 2017 financial performance reported by three of the biggest Dubai-listed real estate developers on Wednesday was a mixed bag with Emaar Properties recording a year-on-year rise, Damac Properties registering a slump in income, and Union Properties swung to a loss.

Emaar said net profit for 12-month period to the end of December came in at Dh5.7 billion, a 9 per cent jump from Dh5.23bn reported a year earlier. The fourth quarter net income for UAE's biggest developer by market capitalisation, however, declined 16 per cent to Dh1.35bn in the same period of 2016.

The company did not give the reason for a decline in quarterly profits in a filing to Dubai Financial Market (DFM). Emaar’s 2017 financial year revenues climbed 21 per cent year-on-year to Dh18.8bn, with shopping malls, hospitality, and leisure and entertainment businesses accounting for 34 per cent, or Dh6.3bn, of total revenue for the period. The fourth quarter revenues reached Dh5.36bn, 21 per cent higher than the year-earlier period.

The company's strategic growth initiative, underlined by Emaar Development IPO as well expansion of its shopping malls and hospitality businesses, highlights Emaar's commitment to long-term value creations for its stakeholders," Emaar chairman Mohamed Alabbar said.

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Meanwhile, Damac Properties’ net income plunged 25 per cent to Dh2.76bn in 2017 from the same period in 2016, despite a 4 per cent increase in revenues to Dh7.45bn over 12-months.

The cost of sales climbed to Dh3.82bn during the last financial year compared to Dh3.16bn in 2016, while general, administrative and selling expenses increased to Dh1.06bn from Dh859.4m over the same period, the company said in a regulatory filing to DFM. Depreciation costs rose to Dh26.4m at the end of last year, it added. The company did not give a breakdown for the fourth quarter earnings.

Damac chief financial officer, Adil Taqi, told Bloomberg the profitability was weighed down by lower sales of villas and the company is focused on defending its market share going forward.

Union Properties, on the other hand, swung to a full-year net loss of Dh2.37bn at the end of 2017 from a net profit of Dh211.4m. The company did not give the reason for the fall in net income in preliminary results posted on DFM website.

Its total assets fell by Dh2.31bn to Dh5.62bn as of December 31, 2017. Its revenues declined to Dh639.8m at the end of last year from Dh962m from a year earlier period, it said.