By: Amr Adel
Dubai – Mubasher: Damac Properties is currently considering investments in shopping malls, the company’s financial director and board member Adil Hassan Taqi told Mubasher.
Taqi added in his remarks to Mubasher that such investments are possible, bearing in mind the huge land plots in Damac Hills and Akoya Oxygen projects, noting that a final decision is yet to be taken by the board of directors regarding the matter.
The decline in profits in the first quarter of 2017 is not attributed to operational reasons, as total revenues and operational expenses were not affected, according to Taqi.
He noted that the majority of sales are to clients in GCC countries, especially Saudi Arabia, adding that Chinese clients also increased.
Cancellations remain at safe levels as they did not reach 5% - lower than those registered at the time of the 2009 crisis, he added.
The company’s performance in Q1-17 was positive, especially with the rise in sales volumes and deliveries compared to the same period last year, as sales grew 10% and registered AED 2.2 billion in the first three months of the year compared around to AED 2 billion in the same period in 2016, and went up by 30% quarter-on-quarter.
The real estate developer has now delivered 550 units in Damac Hills during Q1-17, which means that it is moving closer to achieving the annual target of 2,800 units by the end of the year.
As per the financial director, the company still forecasts financial results similar to those achieved last year with sales totalling AED 7 billion, with a general sense of optimism higher than that at the beginning of the year.
Regarding his expectation for the company’s financial results in Q2-17, he said that sales are expected to decline during the month of Ramadan and the summer break, pointing to the use of promotions and advertising as a tool to counter such a decline in real estate activity.
Taqi also said that by the end of Q1-17, the company’s debts totalled AED 4.2 billion, increasing to AED 5.35 billion with the recent sukuk issue.
