Dubai's Emaar Q1 profit flies past forecasts

Emaar announces healthy profit result.

Emaar Properties announced on Thursday that its first quarter net profit had soared 221 percent, boosted by revenues from its hospitality and retail business and beating analysts' forecasts.

Net profit in the three months rose to AED760 million ($206.9 million), the developer said in a statement, up from a net profit of AED237 million in the first quarter of 2009, it said in a statement. The company recorded no impairments for the quarter.

Analysts in a Reuters survey had forecast an average profit of AED584.68 million.

Revenues for the builder of the world's tallest tower surged 87 percent to AED2.89 billion in the first quarter.

It said its performance in Q1 had been underpinned by the company's hospitality and shopping mall subsidiaries during a period when it opened the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

Mohammed Alabbar, Emaar Properties chairman, said: "Dubai has proved its resilience in the face of global economic challenges...Burj Khalifa has energised the domestic economy, attracting several thousand visitors in the first three months of opening."

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Alabbar added that Emaar's growth strategy for 2010 would focus on the larger Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region.

"Our strategy is to develop integrated lifestyle communities in these markets that meet the growing demand for affordable luxury," he said.

The company said its hospitality arm has recorded strong occupancy levels at all five Address hotels in Dubai in the first quarter of 2010 while Emaar Malls Group hosted more than five million visitors to The Dubai Mall during the month-long Dubai Shopping Festival.