Aldar reported net profit of 836 million dirhams ($228 million) in the first quarter, up 22% year on year, while revenue rose 14% to 3.1 billion dirhams. Increased demand from overseas and resident expatriate buyers resulted in record quarterly development sales of 4.5 billion dirhams. ($1 = 30.7500 Egyptian pounds) ($1 = 3.6720 UAE dirham) (Reporting by Rachna Uppal Editing by Mark Potter)
DUBAI, May 3 (Reuters) - Aldar Properties will hold off any further investments in Egypt until conditions
there stabilise, a senior executive said, as the Abu Dhabi real
estate developer reported a 22% jump in first quarter profit on
Wednesday.
Aldar, along with Abu Dhabi fund ADQ, acquired about 85.5%
of The Sixth of October for Development and Investment (SODIC) shares in 2021 for 6.1 billion Egyptian pounds ($198
million), which at the time was worth about $387 million.
The investment in SODIC was to serve as a platform to expand
the company's real estate portfolio in Egypt.
"We are taking a very cautious approach to launching
projects," Faisal Falaknaz, Aldar's acting chief finance and
sustainability officer, said in a media call.
"We are not putting any more money into the business until
things stabilise further," he said, adding the company remained
positive on Egypt in the long term.
Companies from the Gulf have been eyeing expansion
opportunities in Egypt which offers a big market for their
products and services. Last April, ADQ bought stakes worth
around $1.85 billion in Egyptian firms.
However, persistent economic and financial pressures are
leading some investors to pause their Egypt plans.
Aldar, whose projects and assets are primarily Abu Dhabi-
based is also seeking to expand in Saudi Arabia, Falaknaz said,
considering potential opportunities in Riyadh and Jeddah and
across all asset classes.
He said the company would only tap debt markets
opportunistically, and was in a comfortable liquidity position,
with 6.1 billion UAE dirhams in free cash and 4.4 billion
available in undrawn facilities.
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