Emaar Malls Q1 profit climbs 7% on rising footfall and Namshi acquisition

Net income for the three months ending March 31 rose to Dh584 million

Emaar Malls reported a 12 per cent increase in third-quarter net profit. The National

Emaar Malls, a unit of Dubai’s biggest listed developer Emaar Properties, posted a 7 per cent annual increase in first-quarter net income as it continued to expand its malls offering and added e-commerce retailer Namshi to its portfolio.

Net profit in the three months ending March 31 climbed to Dh584 million, the company said on Wednesday.

Revenue at the end of first three months of the year rose 4 per cent to Dh1.1 billion, driven by strong performance of its shopping mall assets including The Dubai Mall, Dubai Marina Mall and the portfolio of its community retail centres.

“This year, our strategy is to draw on our superior asset mix and continuously enhance our offering through well-planned extensions of The Dubai Mall and other retail destinations,” said Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties. “Strengthening our omnichannel retail presence, highlighted by the acquisition of Namshi, is another growth driver that enables us to meet the aspirations of the new generation of tech-savvy customers.”

Emaar Malls in February fully acquired Namshi, a regional fashion e-commerce retailer. The deal follows the company acquiring the remaining stake of Global Fashion Group in the retailer, in an all-cash transaction of Dh475.5m, Emaar Malls said at the time.

The mall operator maintained strong occupancy levels at 92 per cent, recorded 36 million visitors’ arrival, 3 per cent year-on-year rise in the first quarter. The visitor footfall to The Dubai Mall, which welcomed over 80 million visitors for the past five consecutive years, was 22 million during the first three months of 2019, the company said.