Nakheel makes Dhs 220m sukuk profit payment

Dubai-based developer Nakheel confirmed that it made a profit payment of Dhs 220m on its trade creditor sukuk.

The company said that it has instructed Deutsche Bank, the registrar and paying agent, to make the profit payment to all sukuk holders on the due date of December 15, 2015 against the sukuk issued amount of Dhs 4.4bn to date.

Nakheel’s last profit payment on its Dhs 4.4bn sukuk was issued in June this year.

Government-owned Nakheel, hit by debts during the financial crisis and the subsequent property crash in Dubai in 2008/2009, was forced to undergo an $11bn restructuring process in 2011. Since then, Nakheel has paid billions of dirhams to trade creditors in the form of loan interest and sukuk profit payments.

The company, which recovered strongly on the back of rising property prices in 2013 and 2014, posted a net profit of Dhs 3.61bn in the first nine months of 2015, up 39 per cent compared to Dhs 2.6bn in the same period last year.

The developer has paid off debts worth Dhs 7.9bn and is continuing to make payments on its Dhs 4.4bn sukuk, which is due to mature in August 2016.

Nakheel has also diversified its business over the last two years by expanding into the hospitality, leasing and retail sectors.

Currently, the firm’s retail portfolio includes 10 new large-scale retail developments and a number of smaller community centres close to its residential projects.

In total, the company has over 11 million square feet of leasable retail space in the pipeline. This comes in addition to the 2.5 million square feet already in operation at its Dragon Mart and Ibn Battuta Mall developments.

Nakheel is also planning 10 hotels across Dubai, including five at Deira Islands, the five-star Palm Tower on Palm Jumeirah and hotels at Dragon City and Ibn Battuta Mall.