Nakheel booked an 8% rise in first quarter earnings thanks to a strong showing from its retail, residential leasing and hospitality businesses.
The developer posted a net profit of AED1.47bn ($400mn) for the period – in line with its forecasts – up from AED1.35bn for the first quarter of 2015, it said in a statement.
Nakheel handed over 536 completed units to customers during the first three months of the year. It also officially opened Dragon Mart 2, almost doubling the size of the Dragon Mart mall complex to 2.2 million square feet of leasable space.
Q1 also saw the opening of Nakheel’s first hotel, a 251 room property attached to Dragon Mart 2, managed by Accor. Footfall at Dragon Mart now reaches 120,000 visitors a day at peak times, with the hotel achieving averaging 60 percent occupancy during its first two months of operation.
Nakheel is on target to officially open a 300,000 square foot extension to its flagship Ibn Battuta Mall in Q2 2016, and will continue to grow its portfolio of retail and residential leasing assets.
A number of projects in the retail, hospitality and residential leasing sectors are under construction by Nakheel at Palm Jumeirah, Deira Islands, Jumeirah Village, Warsan Village and other areas across Dubai.
Nakheel Chairman Ali Rashid Lootah said: “Our first quarter results are very encouraging and reflect investor confidence in Dubai and its real estate sector. The figures set the benchmark for us to further improve and generate better results. We remain confident and will continue to execute our business plan, in turn contributing positively to Dubai’s real estate sector in line with the Government’s 2021 vision.
“Our strategy to create more cash-generating assets and strengthening Nakheel’s asset base to further boost our business and financial results in the coming years is beginning to yield results. We thank our investors for their increasing trust and confidence in Nakheel and the Government of Dubai for their on-going support.”
