Deyaar's net profit for the second-quarter climbed to Dh32.7 million. Pawan Singh/The National.
Deyaar's net profit for the second-quarter climbed to Dh32.7 million. Pawan Singh/The National.
Deyaar's net profit for the second-quarter climbed to Dh32.7 million. Pawan Singh/The National.
Deyaar's net profit for the second-quarter climbed to Dh32.7 million. Pawan Singh/The National.

Deyaar’s second-quarter profit surges on higher revenue


Fareed Rahman
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Dubai property developer Deyaar reported a four-fold surge in its second-quarter profit on the back of higher revenue as the UAE’s property market continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Net profit for the three month period to the end of June climbed to Dh32.7 million ($8.9m) from Dh7.54m in the same period a year earlier, the company said in a statement on Thursday to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are traded. Revenue during the period rose about 40 per cent to Dh207.5m from the same period last year.

“Revenues from development activities have increased as we started recognising revenues from the sales of our Regalia project, as the construction of the project is progressing according to schedule,” Saeed Al Qatami, chief executive of Deyaar, said.

“The hospitality portfolio performance continues to grow in line with the strong recovery of the tourism sector in the UAE.”

The UAE's property market grew sharply in 2021 as it recovered from the coronavirus-induced slowdown. The trend has continued this year as the country’s economy remains on a strong growth trajectory.

Pent-up demand and improved investor sentiment have also helped to drive property sales, particularly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, amid the pick-up in economic activity.

During the second quarter of this year, villa sales prices in Dubai jumped 26 per cent annually and apartment prices increased 20 per cent amid a broader recovery in the country's property market, according to a new report from Asteco this week.

“Last month, the company successfully executed its capital reduction to write off the accumulated losses, which will increase the company's attractiveness to investors and will reflect positively on Deyaar’s share price in the Dubai Financial Market," Mr Al Qatami, said.

Deyaar, which is majority owned by the UAE’s biggest Sharia-compliant lender Dubai Islamic Bank, in April said it will reduce the capital by Dh1.4 billion to Dh4.38bn.

The developer's first-half profit grew 196 per cent to Dh66.9m as revenue rose 24 per cent to Dh369.4m, according to the company.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Updated: July 28, 2022, 5:56 AM