Dubai Developer Emaar’s 2012 Apartment Sales Double

Emaar Properties’ revenue from sale of apartments more than doubled last year, offseting a sharp drop in sales of commercial units that is struggling to recover three years after the emirate’s property market collapse.

The builder of the world’s tallest tower generated a revenue of Dhs2.5 billion ($680.64 million) from sales of condominiums last year, compared with Dhs1.1 billion in 2011, a detailed earnings statement released on Monday showed.

However, income from sale of commercial units, plots and others dropped significantly to Dhs682.2 million compared with Dhs2.7 billion in the prior-year.

Emaar is one of the better performing companies in Dubai’s real estate sector with its focus on retail and hospitality segments helping it see through the emirate’s real estate crash which resulted in a 50 per cent slump in prices.

Dubai itself has witnessed a gradual recovery in its property market largely buoyed by return of speculative buyers in the home sales segment.

Emaar’s revenue from villa sales in 2012 also dropped slightly to Dhs937.1 million from Dhs958.7 million. Overall revenue was nearly flat at Dhs8.2 billion from Dhs8.1 billion in 2011.

The company posted a 28 per cent drop in fourth-quarter net profit in January, missing analysts’ forecasts, as costs soared amid revival of stalled projects in the emirate.

The report also said Emaar received outstanding receivables of Dhs326.3 million from troubled affiliate Amlak last year for which debit notes were issued. The developer is still owed Dhs243 million by Amlak, down from Dhs595 million in 2011.

Emaar shares have risen 44.5 per cent year-to-date outperforming the wider Dubai benchmark, which is up 16.8 per cent in the same period. The stock was down 1.6 per cent as at 0715 GMT on Monday.