Real Estate Emaar’s profit rises 43% as property sales hit $2.5bn By Pramod Kumar May 12, 2023, 5:46 AM Emaar Emaar’s revenue backlog from property sales grew to AED55.7 billion Emaar Properties reported a net profit of AED3.2 billion ($873 million) for the first quarter, surging 43 percent year on year on higher tourism, sales and demand for real estate in Dubai. Revenue for the period rose to AED6.3 billion, as Ebitda increased 26 percent year-on-year to AED4 billion. The group’s property sales reached AED9.2 billion, an 11 percent increase on Q1 2022. Emirates soars to its most profitable year Mohamed Alabbar, founder of Emaar, said: “As a direct consequence of our enhanced capacity to scale our operations, we have seen both an increase in Ebitda and a widening of margins.” Emaar Development, a majority-owned subsidiary, recorded property sales of AED8.6 billion, rising 26 percent. Property development revenue in the UAE reached AED3.6 billion, as seven new projects were launched. Emaar’s international real estate operations achieved sales of AED627 million and generated revenue of AED420 million, up seven percent of overall revenue. “The financial results of our international operations were primarily driven by the profitable operations in Egypt,” Alabbar added. Shopping mall, retail and commercial leasing operations had a seven percent increase in revenue, reaching AED1.4 billion. Emaar recorded an Ebitda of AED1.7 billion from its shopping mall, retail and commercial leasing portfolio, rising 114 percent from the same period in 2022 on AED700 million gains from the sale of Namshi and improved operational profitability. Prime mall assets, managed by Emaar Malls Management, reported an occupancy rate of over 95 percent. Meanwhile, the revenue of Emaar’s hospitality, leisure and entertainment businesses reached AED884 million, growing 17 percent compared to Q1 2022. Hotels in the UAE under the hospitality arm of Emaar, including managed hotels, achieved an average occupancy of 75 percent.