Dubai: Arabtec Holding said on Wednesday its first-quarter net profit more than tripled, exceeding analysts' forecasts.
The company, in which Abu Dhabi state-owned fund Aabar has a 10.5 per cent stake, made a net profit of Dh84.1 million in the three months to March 31, compared with Dh26.6 million in the corresponding period last year.
Revenue for the quarter rose slightly to Dh1.3 billion from Dh1.2 billion in the previous year, Arabtec said in a statement to the Dubai Financial Market.
The company also said it was considering buying out the remaining 45-per cent stake held by three separate partners in its subsidiary, Gulf Steel Industries (GSI).
"The board provisionally authorised the CEO of the company, Riad Kamal, to negotiate the best possible price for acquiring a further 45 per cent in GSI so long as it did not exceed the valuation originally obtained on the said subsidiary," Arabtec said in a separate statement.
Arabtec, along with a consortium of Turkey's TAV Insaat and Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC), were identified earlier this week as the preferred bidders for an estimated $3 billion contract to expand Abu Dhabi's international airport.
