Emaar's profit tumbles on Dubai Bank

Emaar Properties Tuesday posted a 69 per cent decline in net profits for the second quarter of 2011 as the company wrote off its 30 per cent stake in Dubai Bank, which was taken over by the government earlier this year. The net profit of the UAE's largest developer by market value came down to Dh250 million in the second quarter, compared to Dh802 million net profit in the second quarter of 2010, Emaar Properties said yesterday in a statement. The company added that the first-half net profit for 2011 rested at Dh671 million, down 57 per cent from Dh1.56 billion recorded in the first six months of 2010. Earnings per share in the same period stood at Dh0.11 [first half of 2011], as against Dh0.26 [first half of 2010]. Article continues below The revenue for the second quarter, meanwhile, was down by 23 per cent to Dh2.03 billion over the same period last year. Saud Masoud, senior analyst, real estate and construction, Rasmala Investment Bank, said, overall, Emaar had "relatively solid" quarter relative to Rasmala's expectations as the company beat its revenue estimates by "six per cent", and proforma earnings came inline at "Dh0.07 per share". Chet Riley, executive director at Nomura, said: "Emaar largely met with consensus expectations. With the ‘sale' of Dubai Bank, Emaar rids itself of another corporate distraction. While this resulted in an equity hit, it completely absolves the company from any further calls for equity injections." Further, Emaar's performance was also affected as it handed over fewer units — 244 — in the second quarter 2011, compared to 612 units in the same period last year, while also down from 270 units Emaar handed over in the first quarter of this year. Emaar Properties' chairman, Mohammad Al Abbar, said in a statement that Emaar is now embarking on a new phase of growth with a "core management team in place" to roll out a five-year corporate strategic action plan for driving long-term value creation.