DUBAI: Emaar Malls, the shopping malls and retail business majority-owned by Emaar Properties, on Monday announced a 7 per cent increase in net profits to Dh584 million during the first quarter, compared to net profit of Dh548 million in the previous year.
Revenue for the first three months of 2019 grew at 4 per cent to Dh1.075 billion. In a statement, the company said the growth of Emaar Malls was underlined by the strong performance of its shopping mall assets including The Dubai Mall, Dubai Marina Mall, and the Community Retail Centres.
At its fourth Annual General Meeting, Emaar Malls approved a cash dividend of AED 1.301 billion (US$354 million), equivalent to 10 per cent of share capital.
The company said malls maintained strong occupancy levels at 92 per cent and visitor traffic of 36 million. The visitor footfall to The Dubai Mall was 22 million during the first three months of this year.
Namshi, regional fashion e-commerce retailer, reported sales of AED 167 million (US$45 million) for the quarter. Emaar Malls acquired Namshi in February.
Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, Chief Executive Officer of Emaar Malls, added: “The positive performance of Emaar Malls this quarter is driven by two key strategic imperatives: the continued introduction of newness across product categories in The Dubai Mall with the launch of 12 new brands in the quarter, and the successful execution of special events and retailers activations around Dubai Shopping Festival and Chinese New Year, along with the strong customer response to our Spring Fashion campaign. Enhancing the visitors experience and driving retail sales across all Emaar Malls assets remain our top priority.”
