Dubai construction giant's nine-month profit soars

Arabtec Construction, Dubai's largest construction company by market value, said Tuesday its net profit for the nine-month period surged 10.3 percent year-on-year to hit 107.5 million Dirham (29.31 million U.S. dollars), as the firm benefitted from a construction rebound at home and projects it gained abroad. The firm's home market United Arab Emirates (UAE) witnessed a solid comeback in construction and real estate this year, fuelling Arabtec's order books. In June this year, Arabtec was awarded to become part of a construction consortium to build Abu Dhabi's new midfield terminal for 10.8 billion Dirham (2.9 billion U.S. dollars). In addition, Arabtec continued to expand in foreign countries. End of September, Arabtec's Russian branch signed a contract worth 453 million Dirham (123.5 million U. S. dollars) for works on Russia's 462.5 meters high Gazprom tower, known as Okhta Tower, in St. Petersburg. Once completed, the Okhta tower will be Europe's highest office tower. Arabtec also lured new projects in Egypt, India, Syria, Qatar and Pakistan. Since Jan. 1, 2012, Arabtec shares, which are listed at the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), gained 71 percent in value, outperforming the benchmark index DFMGI by 51 percent. According to a study published by Citigroup last week, "the real estate and construction recovery in the UAE's largest emirates Dubai and Abu Dhabi is in line with the wider economic recovery, and is well supported by economic fundamentals." Some 35 percent of the Gulf Arab region's construction projects planned, with a total value of 1.8 trillion U.S. dollars, are in Arabtec's home market UAE.