Dubai: Arabtec Holding said on Wednesday it received a letter of award to proceed with works for a 670 million Saudi riyal (Dh636 milion) construction project in Jeddah.

"The award of this project demonstrates further the strategic importance of the Saudi market for Arabtec. This is the third major project awarded to Arabtec Saudi Arabia," said Arabtec Holding Chief Executive Officer Riad Kamal in a statement posted on the Dubai Financial Market website.

Arabtec said it expected the award to increase in value to around 1.5 billion riyals, adding that negotiations were ongoing to finalise this increase. The company didn't say who the project client is and didn't provide any further details on the deal.

Arabtec shares were last trading flat at Dh1.45 on the Dubai bourse.

Previous Arabtec projects in Saudi Arabia include 46 buildings for the Princess Noura Univ-ersity project in Riyadh and the construction of 5,000 villas and associated infrastructure works for a new housing project in the Eastern Province with an agreed value of five billion riyals to be completed over a construction period of 30 months.