Property News · August 2, 2016

Aldar Properties Q2 net profit up 9.7% despite property slowdown in Abu Dhabi


Second quarter profits at Aldar Properties rose by nearly a tenth despite a slowdown in the city’s property market.Abu Dhabi’s largest listed house builder said profits for the three months to the end of June rose 9.7 per cent compared with the same period a year ago to Dh657.3 million.The profits came on the back of a boost in company revenue which jumped to Dh1.69 billion, up from Dh1.11bn a year earlier.Aldar said that off plan housing sales during the quarter exceeded Dh1bn – similar with the previous quarter – driven by Dh940bn worth of off plan property sales at its 1,315 villa Yas Acres project and 800-apartment Mayan scheme as well as Dh90m from its 1,017 villa West Yas project which is only available to Emiratis.The company said that it intended to push ahead with plans to build 1,500 new homes a year despite a softening in the Abu Dhabi housing market.Direct costs also increased to Dh1bn this year from Dh612m last year as the company pushed ahead with construction at projects including at Yas Acres, 540 Ansam apartments, the Mayan flats on Yas Island, and 233 apartments and eight town houses at Al Hadeel at Raha Beach.”There is still demand for the right property at the right price in Abu Dhabi,” said Talal Al Dyiyebi, Aldar’s chief development officer. “It’s not easy right now, you have to work hard, but the Abu Dhabi market has strong resilience.”Last week property broker JLL reported that prime sales prices in the capital fell 5 per cent in the second quarter of the year to around Dh15,200 per square metre as transaction volumes stalled amid a general slowdown in the Abu Dhabi housing market caused by the ongoing slump in global oil prices and a flurry of job cuts in the oil and gas and construction sectors.”These research reports are generic and across the whole market,” Mr Al Dyiyebi said. “We look at our portfolio and it is outperforming the market.”Aldar said that profits from its rental portfolio which includes thousands of homes, shops, offices and schools increased 12 per cent during the quarter to Dh382m.The company said that its trophy Yas Mall shopping centre – the second largest in the UAE – had a trading occupancy of 98 per cent.Aldar reported that occupancy levels at its portfolio of 5,000 rented flats in Abu Dhabi had fallen slightly to 96 per cent as the company witnessed the effects of job cuts in the capital.However, it said that the income generated by the portfolio had increased slightly over the same period as the company continued to increase rents for existing tenants.It added that it was “relatively insulated” from the effects of widespread job cuts because around a third of its rented housing portfolio was leased via bulk deals with large employers.It said that housing rents for the coming quarters would be “looking at a flat scenario.”lbarnard@thenational.aeFollow The National’s Business section on Twitter

Source : thenational.ae
Read more…Aldar Properties Q2 net profit up 9.7% despite property slowdown in Abu Dhabi

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