Emaar Malls posts 10 per cent increase in third quarter net profit

Dubai Mall footfall rose 4 per cent in the first nine months of the year to 60 million. Leslie Pableo for The National

Emaar Malls, a unit of the UAE’s largest property developer Emaar Properties, posted a 10 per cent increase in third-quarter net profit thanks to rise in footfall at its outlets.

Net profit rose to Dh537 million from the year earlier period, the company said in a statement on Sunday to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are traded. The results missed the median estimates of two analysts polled by Bloomberg who forecast Dh551.5m for the period.

Revenue climbed 29 per cent to Dh1.13 billion from a year earlier.

“The positive performance of the business reflects the success of our strategy to evolve in line with the aspirations of the new generation of customers,” said Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties.

In July, Emaar Properties said it plans to build the “world’s first technology-embedded” shopping mall at a Dh10bn ($2.7bn) retail complex planned for Dubai Creek Harbour. The Dubai Square mall will span approximately 750,000 square metres – bigger than Emaar’s flagship The Dubai Mall, the biggest in the world.

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Dubai Mall, Dubai Marina Mall, Souk Al Bahar and other outlets welcomed 99 million visitors during the first nine months of 2018. The number of visitors to Dubai Mall rose 4 per cent in the first nine months of this year to 60 million, said Emaar Malls chief executive officer Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne.

Occupancy across Emaar Malls outlets reached 93 per cent during the first nine months of this year.

Emaar Malls currently has a total gross leasable area of 6.7 million square feet.

Online retailer Namshi, in which Emaar Malls has a stake and is included in the company's revenue, posted an 18 per cent year-on-year increase in online sales to Dh607m in the first nine months of this year.