Nakheel fourth quarter net profit surges 58% on diversified revenue, property recovery

Full year net profit rises 14% on 2016 figures

Ali Lootah, chairman of Nakheel, said the 2017 results reflect Nakheel’s progress over the past few years in diversifying its business. Christopher Pike / The National

Nakheel’s fourth-quarter net profit jumped 58 per cent year-on-year as the Dubai property developer of the Palm Jumeirah continued to diversify its revenue streams amid a recovery in the emirate’s real estate market.

Net profit in the three months ending in December reached Dh1.67 billion and full-year net profit stood at Dh5.67bn, up 14 per cent from 2016, the company said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.

 “2017 was another good year for Nakheel,” said Nakheel chairman Ali Lootah. “The company met its business and financial targets for the year and continued to support the local economy by awarding construction contracts worth almost Dh8 billion in 2017.”

The property market in Dubai is rebounding as the government spends on infrastructure in the run-up to hosting Expo2020 and the economy expands faster in 2018 than last year.  The total value of real estate transactions in Dubai rose 16.8 per cent to Dh132bn in the first half of 2017 compared with Dh113bn a year earlier, Dubai Land Department figures show.

Nakheel said it handed over 1,439 land and built form units in 2017, bringing the ­total number of handovers since 2010 to 12,700. The company’s retail, hospitality and leasing businesses “continued to perform well”, it said.

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“The 2017 results reflect Nak­heel’s progress over the past few years in diversifying its business in creating revenue-generating assets.”

“At the end of the year, Nak­heel had 4.6 million square feet of retail space in operation that led to increased annual revenue from the retail business – a key focus for Nakheel – which is expected to generate significant incremental revenue in subsequent years.”

The company’s two hotels also had a strong performance last year and Nakheel plans to continue to expand its hospitality offerings.