Emaar Properties increases share capital to $2.4bn

Trading of the developer's newly issued stock will begin on Friday

Emaar Properties reported a 46 per cent annual jump in its third-quarter net profit. Lee Hoagland / The National

Dubai’s largest listed developer Emaar Properties has increased its share capital by 8 per cent to Dh8.83 billion ($2.4 billon) and issued new shares.

The move came after the company’s general assembly meeting on December 21, Emaar said in a filing on Friday to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are traded.

The company’s issued shares have also increased by 8 per cent to 8.83 billion, the company said.

The general assembly also approved the issuance by Emaar Properties of a mandatory bond convertible into 659 million new shares in the company.

“The increase of the company’s share has been activated at the Dubai Financial Market on December 22 and the start date of trading on the company’s new shares arising from the capital increase will [be] from this Friday,” Emaar said in a separate statement.

Emaar, which is known for building Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower in Dubai, reported a 46 per cent annual jump in its third-quarter net profit to about Dh1.5 billion, driven by new project launches and strong demand.

The company's nine-month profit attributable to owners of the company also rose to Dh5.8 billion amid higher demand from the property.

Earlier this year, the company also increased the foreign ownership limit of its shares to 100 per cent, from 49 per cent to capitalise on high interest from international investors.

Emaar aims to aggressively grow and increase its sales and market share as the UAE economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, managing director Mohamed Alabbar told The National in October.

“At the moment, the market is good, we need to push really hard, very aggressively, take market share, increase sales, while watching and being worried about what can go wrong,” he said at the time.