Aldar Properties, the developer behind some of Abu Dhabi's most eye-catching projects, yesterday posted its third straight profitable quarter since the company's debt was restructured in January.
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Net profit for the third quarter was Dh144 million (US$39.2m), compared with a loss of Dh731.2m in the same period a year ago, as the company continued handovers of homes in Raha Beach.
Revenue for the quarter jumped to Dh3.13 billion, compared with Dh505.3m the same period a year ago, the company reported.
The company's quarterly results includeDh2.7bn from the sale of land on Yas Island to the Abu Dhabi Government, part of the January funding plan.
The company also said it was able to raise Dh734.6m in bank borrowings, "demonstrating continued access to funding markets".
"This period has seen good progress in areas of strategic importance to the business," said Ali Eid Al Mheiri, the chairman of Aldar Properties.
Aldar cut 105 employees, 24 per cent of its staff, as part of a corporate restructuring last week. The company, which developed Ferrari World and Raha Beach, said it would cut back on development plans and focus more on property and asset management.
The results for the third quarter highlighted many of the key areas for Aldar as it reshapes the company.
Rental income from offices and retail space increased to Dh537.3m for the first nine months of the year compared with Dh269.8m last year. And the company's schools and hotels business generated Dh368.6m for the three quarters this year compared with Dh247.6m in the same period a year earlier.
Aldar Academies opened three new schools in the third quarter and appointed Viceroy to operate the Yas Hotel.
The company's overall profit for the nine-month period was Dh460.5m compared with a net loss of Dh1.5bn over the same period last year.
Aldar completed work on the 1,221 homes in the Al Zeina development of Raha Beach in the third quarter. The company also made "significant progress" on the Al Falah national housing project and other fee-based projects, such as the Cleveland Clinic and Masdar.
In January Aldar announced a funding plan under which the Abu Dhabi Government would buy Dh10.9bn of the company's infrastructure assets on Yas Island, Dh5.5bn of residential units and land, and issue a Dh2.8bn convertible bond.
The bond was purchased by Mubadala Development, a strategic investment company owned by the Abu Dhabi Government.
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