Arabtec Holding, the UAE's biggest construction company, posted a 15 per cent decline in full-year profit, beating analysts' estimates.
Profit for last year was Dh260.5 million ($71 million) after accounting for minority interest, the company said in a statement to the Dubai bourse, without providing comparative numbers. Arabtec reported a profit of Dh307min 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The average estimate of 12 analysts was for a profit of Dh133m, according to the data.
Shares of Arabtec, builder of the Burj Khalifa world's tallest tower in Dubai, have surged this year on speculation investors are accumulating the stock on bets the company will benefit from regional infrastructure spending. Aabar Investments, the Abu Dhabi government company which owns stakes in Daimler and UniCredit, raised its ownership in Arabtec to 5.28 per cent this week.
Arabtec has been eying opportunities outside its home market after construction work slowed in Dubai. The company said in November the value of a contract it won in Saudi Arabia may rise to 1.5 billion riyals ($400 million).
A unit of Arabtec in January won a Dh561m contract for the Dubai International Airport's expansion. One of its units also won 256 million dirhams in contracts in Abu Dhabi this year.
Arabtec shares declined 9.9 per cent to close at Dh2.93 in Dubai yesterday, trimming the gain to 84 per cent this year. That compares with a 19 per cent advance for the benchmark Dubai Financial Market General Index this year.
Revenue for last year was Dh5 billion, according to the statement today. The board proposed 5 per cent bonus shares and cash dividend of 5 fils a share.
Shaji Mathew / Bloomberg News
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
Director: Romany Saad
Starring: Mirfat Amin, Boumi Fouad and Tariq Al Ibyari
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
Zidane's managerial achievements
La Liga: 2016/17
Spanish Super Cup: 2017
Uefa Champions League: 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18
Uefa Super Cup: 2016, 2017
Fifa Club World Cup: 2016, 2017
