The Dh9.14bn Yas Island sales

Aldar Properties announced yesterday its first ever quarterly losses, totaling more than Dh500 million, but it also announced something that has been circulating in the market for weeks: It has sold a major section of the infrastructure and attractions like the Grand Prix circuit on Yas Island to the Abu Dhabi government.

If you look at the earnings released this morning, those "disposals" appeared to be valued at Dh9.138 billion (US$2.49bn).

Earnings here:

In a note attached to pg. 44, the company says: "During the year, the Group disposed of certain infrastructure and other property assets at Yas Island with a carrying amount of AED 9,1381.1 million, to the Government of Abu Dhabi under a sale purchase agreement. The related receivable has been recorded under trade and other receivables."

Analysts are pondering the details of this announcement this morning and it isn't yet clear how this transaction will work.

Chet Riley

, of

Nomura Securities

, said this morning that it is possible that there would be no cash transferred to Aldar as part of the deal.

Aldar received loans from the Government and issued a convertible bond to

Mubadala Development

to fund the construction of Yas Island. The Government loans amounted to about Dh9.6bn, with the remainder from Mubadala.

"

We think it is likely that this 'sale' will be reflected in a 'repayment' of the Yas Island loan for the value of infrastructure and PPE, so there is probably no cash to be remitted back to the company," Mr Riley said in a note. "We also think the sale would have been at cost. Most market commentators (including us) were expecting the sale of the race track but not the wider sale."

If this happened, then Aldar could more easily obtain new loans or financing from the financial markets because its total debt would be substantially reduced. The deal could also include some cash and some debt write-off. Either way, the shift of the Yas Island assets to the Government is considered a positive move for Aldar, according to analysts.