Abu Dhabi’s Aldar Properties second-quarter profit up 54%

DUBAI, July 28 (Reuters) – Aldar Properties, the builder of Abu Dhabi’s Formula 1 circuit, reported on Thursday record sales and a 54 percent rise in second-quarter profit on strong local and international demand. .

Profit attributable to shareholders was AED803.99 million ($218.91 million) for the three months ended June 30, compared with AED520.83 million a year earlier.

Group sales for the quarter rose 33% to AED 3.12 billion.

The Abu Dhabi developer also said it signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala Investments to acquire four commercial towers that are part of the Abu Dhabi Global Market, the emirate’s international financial hub.

It said the total net lettable area of ​​Al Sila, Al Sarab, Al Maqam and Al Khatem towers is 180,000 sqm worth AED4.3 billion.

Aldar’s chief financial and sustainability officer Greg Fewer said in a conference call with reporters that the company has further equity capital of AED5 billion to deploy over the next 12 months.

The United Arab Emirates’ central bank said on Wednesday it would raise its benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point to 2.4 percent from Thursday, in line with the Federal Reserve’s rate hike as its currency is pegged to the dollar. read more

Fewer said the correlation between home sales and long-term interest rates isn’t as straightforward for Aldar because the company has many cash buyers.

But he said borrowing costs would be affected.

“We were fortunate to have pre-hedged and bought swaps over the last 12 months when rates were very attractive. So we’ve locked in over AED 1 billion in fixed rates in anticipation of the acquisitions we’ve been doing, “He says.

(1 USD = 3.6727 UAE Dirham)

Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh David Goodman, Editing by Robert Birsel

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