Dubai: Dubai contractor Arabtec Holding is bidding for a major property development in Azerbaijan.
Arabtec, which earlier on Tuesday said its board had agreed to raise its stake in UAE-based House of Equipment, is expected to release its full-year results by Wednesday.
London-based magazine Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) reported on its website that Arabtec was vying for the contract to build the Crescent — a complex of five high-rise residential and commercial towers and a 360-room five-star hotel on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
It did not give the source of the information.
US-based engineering and design firm AECOM Technology Corp was last year awarded a construction management contract from Gilan Holding on the project, which is expected to be completed by 2013.
Arabtec has been aggressively expanding internationally over the last few months to diversify its portfolio away from Dubai.
The move into Azerbaijan represents Arabtec's latest foray into the former Soviet states. It is working on a $2.7 billion contract to build a 400-metre tower for Russia's Gazprom Neft, the world's biggest gas producer.
Outlook
"We forecast full year 2009 revenue of Dh8.2 billion and profit (pre-write-downs) of Dh779 million," said Ian Munro, MAC Capital head of research. "There is potential for auditors to request that Arabtec takes receivable writedowns of Dh100 million to Dh200 million, which may affect the underlying quality of the result," he said. Arabtec will more than double its stake in House of Equipment, which sells, manages, rents and services construction equipment, to 66.7 per cent.
