Emaar Properties, builder of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, sees net profit plunge 69 percent

Emaar Properties, the United Arab Emirate’s largest developer by market value, reported a 69 percent plunge in second-quarter net profit on Tuesday as it handed over fewer homes and wrote off its investments in Dubai Bank.

The builder of the world’s tallest tower, Burj Khalifa, made net profit of 250 million dirhams ($68.1 million) for the quarter to June 30 - its smallest quarterly profit in two years - against 802 million in the same period a year ago.

Analysts polled by Reuters had, on average, expected quarterly net profit of 358 million dirhams.
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“We expected the write-off on Dubai Bank, and the fall in the number of handovers was not a surprise as this is the state of the market,” said Ahmed Badr, head of MENA research at Credit Suisse in Dubai.

Emaar handed over around 244 units in the second quarter, against 612 in the same period last year, it said in a statement on Dubai’s bourse website. This was also lower than the 270 handed over in the first quarter.

Emaar, which has set up a core team for a strategic review of its operations, said revenue in the second quarter fell 23 percent to 2 billion dirhams.

The developer wrote off its investment in Dubai Bank, valued at 172 million dirhams, it said. Dubai’s government said in May it would take over the troubled lender.