Dubai’s Arabtec Triples Net Profit, Resumes Dividend Payments

Net profits at Dubai builder Arabtec more than tripled in the final three months of last year, underpinned by an increasing backlog of work and growth in its key markets in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, the company said on Tuesday.

The contractor, in which Abu Dhabi state fund Aabar is a key stakeholder, said it made a net profit of Dhs122 million ($33 million) in the quarter, compared with Dhs32 million in the corresponding period of 2012, on revenue up 39 per cent at Dhs2.3 billion.

The contractor, which went through a major management shake-up last year backed by Aabar, has won a series of contracts in the region recently including high-profile projects such as the development of Abu Dhabi’s main airport and building of a Louvre museum and a contract to build 1 million homes in Egypt.

“Since the start of 2014, our company’s subsidiaries have been selected to execute a series of new projects, with a total value of Dhs180 billion, which gives us visibility on our earnings growth for many years to come,” Hasan Ismaik, the chief executive of Arabtec said in a statement.

The company said its backlog of work in 2013 increased by 22 per cent over the previous year to Dhs24.1 billion.

Arabtec also proposed a cash dividend of Dhs0.1 per share plus bonus shares worth 30 per cent of its share capital. The company gave no dividend for 2012.

Full-year net profit rose to Dhs377 million from Dhs139 million in 2012.