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Dar Global expands Trump-branded project in Oman

By Megha Merani
Field, Adult, Male HP2CCB President Donald Trump Photographed at Trump Links International Golf Course at Aberdeen Scotland. Alamy
Donald Trump playing golf at Trump Links International in Scotland. Dar Global is to upgrade the course in Oman to championship standard
  • Dar Global secures more land
  • Upgrading golf course
  • Company revenue down 33%

Saudi Arabia’s Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development is upgrading a Trump Organisation golf course in Oman to championship level and expanding an adjacent $4 billion luxury gated community project.

Dar Global, the London-listed international arm of Dar Al Arkan, said it added nearly one million square metres of beachfront land to its Aida Muscat project, just east of the capital, Muscat.

The company, which announced a fall in gross profit of 40 percent for 2024, said it was increasing the number of golf and sea-view units at Aida, which also features Trump-branded hotels and villas.

Oman is relaxing restrictions on foreign direct investment and property ownership as part of a drive to diversify its economy away from oil, on which it has historically depended for its national wealth and government revenue. The sultanate also needs to create more jobs for an expanding population.

Dar Global’s CEO, Ziar El Chaar, told AGBI in February that the Trump brand “still has very big pull”. Trump-branded villas at Aida received more than 100 expressions of interest within 24 hours of launch, he said at the time.

Dar Global’s gross profit for 2024 fell 40 percent from $146 million to $87 million. Revenue was down by a third, to $240 million.

Contracted sales, in contrast, jumped 60 percent to $1.6 billion. The number of active Dar projects rose to 17, with a gross development value of $7.5 billion, up from $6 billion a year earlier. 

The developer said it was planning expansion in Saudi Arabia, securing land in the capital, Riyadh, and the kingdom’s second city, Jeddah. It has also hired the financial services group Rothschild & Co to advise on investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia and London.

The Trump Organisation operates the Middle East’s only Trump-branded golf course, in Dubai, in partnership with the local Damac Properties, where El Chaar was previously CEO.

Dar Global’s share price opened at $5.48 on Thursday, down 26 percent since January. The stock has traded between $3.14 and $9.40 over the past year.

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