Saudi Arabia's largest property developer, Dar Al Arkan, reported a more than 91 per cent annual surge in its third-quarter net profit, primarily driven by lower operating expenses and higher lease revenue.
Net profit after zakat for the three months to the end of September surged to 151.9 million Saudi riyals ($40.5 million) from 79.4 million riyals in the same period a year earlier, the company said in a filing on Sunday to the Tadawul stock exchange, where its shares are traded.
Revenue during the period fell nearly 4 per cent annually to 715.7 million riyals, but operating profit rose more than 7 per cent to 234.3 million riyals.
“The increase in net income is mainly due to the decrease in operating expenses, increase in lease revenue and the increase in share of income from associates,” Dar Al Arkan said.
“The increase in finance cost were fully offset with the higher non-operating income from Islamic Murabaha deposits and positively impacted the net income,” the company added.
The company's net profit in the first nine months of the year rose nearly 6 per cent to 416.01 million riyals, but revenue fell by more than 24 per cent to 2.31 billion riyals during the same period.
In February, Dar Al Arkan listed its global unit Dar Global on the main market of the London Stock Exchange to expand its investor base.
Dar Global, which has a market cap of roughly $660 billion, aims to expand globally with a pipeline of close to $2.5 billion worth of projects planned in the next two to three years.
New projects
The company, which currently has $5 billion worth of projects under development in the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Spain, Bosnia and the UK, is planning new projects with the Trump Organisation as well as other partners as part of its growth strategy, Ziad El Chaar, chief executive of Dar Global, told The National in an interview in March.
Dar Global was established in 2017 to develop the company's international assets.
The company, which focuses on developing projects comprising luxury second and holiday homes, currently has 11 premium projects in six countries. Three of its developments, including Urban Oasis, the Da Vinci Tower in Dubai and Sidra in Bosnia, are set to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.
The value of real estate and infrastructure projects announced since Saudi Arabia rolled out its National Transformation Plan in 2016 has crossed $1.25 trillion, agency Knight Frank said in September.
With the execution deadline of the end of this decade fast approaching, the kingdom has commissioned projects worth $250 billion so far since the launch of its Vision 2030 economic and social diversification programme, the global real estate consultancy said in its annual Saudi Giga Projects report.
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