Dubai: A strong project pipeline and a robust rental portfolio has helped Abu Dhabi’s Aldar Properties secure a 16 per cent increase in net profit to Dh737 million during the third quarter, and up from Dh638 million last year.
This was built on revenues of Dh1.9 billion, up 61 per cent year-on-year and reflects the “successful handover of plots during the quarter”, the developer said in a statement.
Off-plan sales of Dh1 billion were driven by Yas Acres and Mayan launches. And this raised the overall off-plan tally for the first nine months to Dh2.9 billion.
“We continue to see demand for high quality real estate in Abu Dhabi’s prime locations,” said Mohammad Khalifa Al Mubarak, CEO. “Our increasingly diverse buyer mix demonstrates we are bringing the right product at the right price in the right location and servicing previously untapped segments of the market where we see real demand.”
Yas Acres has sold 90 per cent from its phase one and two releases, while Mayan has touched the 80 per cent mark from phase one.
Aldar remains the exception in terms of bringing out new launches in Abu Dhabi. The emirate’s property market is going through a quiet spell over developer and investor concerns related to the economy. Even with existing projects from other developers, the theme is to go slow on the delivery side until the market situation effects a turnaround of some sort.
As for Aldar, its gross profit from recurring revenue assets has seen a 4 per cent uptick in year-on-year comparisons. Gross profit totalled Dh883 million.
“We have a strong portfolio, which continues to demonstrate resilience and robust levels of occupancy, despite the softer economic backdrop,” said Al Mubarak. “As such we believe our solid fundamentals on both the development business and recurring revenues business will allow Aldar to continue delivering long-term value for its shareholders.”
This stems from its retail and hospitality portfolio. The Yas now has a trading occupancy (by units) of 96 per cent, while the hotels attained a 76 per cent mark for the nine months and higher than the average for the Abu Dhabi hotel sector as a whole.
Aldar’s residential leasing assets now have a 94 per cent occupancy and that of its offices stand at 95 per cent.
Also during the third quarter, Dh700 million worth of contracts awarded were awarded, at the Al Merief, Al Nareel and Meera clusters. This brings total contracts awarded for the first nine months to Dh2.9 billion.