One of Dubai’s biggest developers, Emaar Properties, plans to increase its stake in Dubai’s real estate market through the UAE build-to-sell property business.
Emaar’s board approved raising its stake in Emaar Development during a meeting on Thursday, the company said on Friday in a statement to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are traded.
It clarified in a later statement that “the increase of shareholding would be by up to 3 percent only of the share capital of Emaar Development”.
Emaar Properties held an 80 percent stake in Emaar Development and its subsidiaries as of December 31, 2021.
Emaar Properties raised Dh4.82 billion ($1.31 billion) from the sale of a 20 percent stake in its development business in November 2017, which at the time was the largest Dubai listing in three years.
The developer has registered strong growth in the past year, buoyed by the rebounding Dubai property market.
Net profit for 2021 grew 80 percent to Dh3.8bn after the company posted the best annual sales since its inception.
The company’s revenue soared 57.4 percent annually to Dh28.3bn during the period.
Emaar’s portfolio of prime assets will “continue to benefit from the fundamental shifts occurring within the real estate market, as well as the company’s approach to portfolio optimization”, founder Mohamed Alabbar said last month.
Emaar Development also achieved record property sales in 2021, registering a four-fold increase to Dh27.4bn.
Profit for the year more than doubled to Dh4.2bn while revenue rose 60 percent to Dh15.6bn.
The company, which has a sales backlog of Dh28.6bn, is expected to deliver more than 8,000 residential units in 2022.
Dubai registered 61,241 sales transactions last year, with an annual deal value up 110 percent to Dh151.07bn, making 2021 the best year for total transactions since 2013 and the highest in value since 2009, according to Property Finder.
Thus, the sector is predicted to grow with the support of new government initiatives such as residency permits for retirees and remote workers as well as the expansion of the 10-year golden visa programme this year.