Dubai — Mubasher: Dubai’s retail market remains robust despite a slew of “soft” years, the CEO of Emaar Malls, a unit of Emaar Properties which operates high-end retail facilities including Dubai Mall, said.
“I think it's fair to say that the last couple of years have been softer in terms of retail; there has been a bit of a slowdown,” Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne told Arabian Business.
Dubai has seen 18 months of weaker growth “but growth nevertheless, which other markets likes the UK - it's hardly growing for example,” the CEO, who joined the Dubai-listed retailer from Marks & Spencer, added.
However, Bousquet-Chavanne expressed his optimism about Dubai’s retail market over the coming period, citing a growth in the emirate’s tourism sector fueled by the return of Russians, coupled with great, continued spending from Saudis.
The Dubai Mall, one of the world's largest shopping centres, added 4 million visitors in a single year, he said.
Bousquet-Chavanne also highlighted other encouraging factors, including mushrooming government investment in tourism and retail, a growth in population, and the lead-up to Expo 2020.
“Expo 2020 is coming up- the ramp up to that is very exciting. I think we're going to have a great 2020..When I monitor local consumptions, there is some softness and I think we will go beyond that as we go into the second of '19,” he said.
The six-month Expo 2020 Dubai will be held on 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021 and is expected to welcome more than 25 million visitors.
He noted that Dubai’s retail sector has overcome the hurdle of value-added tax (VAT) introduced in January 2018.
“The VAT impact last year was perceptible and I think did have an impact on local consumption. We are now one year on, and I think we're seeing a healthier retail [market] at the start of this year versus last year, which I think gives us reasons to be much more optimistic.”
Emaar Malls reported a 7% year-on-year profit increase during the full-year 2018, logging AED 2.230 billion ($607 million) from AED 2.086 billion ($568 million).
As for the fourth quarter of 2018, the retail and shopping malls arm of Emaar Properties posted a 2% profit growth to AED 591 million, versus AED 579 million in the year-ago period.
