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29 March 2024

'Dubai Investments 2007 profit rose up to 40%'

Published
By Agencies


Dubai Investments Co, the UAE's largest diversified holdings firm by market value, expects 2007 profit to grow by up to 40 per cent, its chief executive said in comments published on Thursday.

Khalid bin Kalban's 2007 profit forecast in Arabic daily newspaper Al Ittihad would indicate an up to 30.2 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profit to around Dh320 million, beating an analyst's expectations.

"In 2007 ... the growth in profits would not be less than 35 per cent and might be up to 40 per cent compared with the year before," bin Kalban said, according to Al Ittihad.

The company, whose third-quarter profit grew on higher building material and property unit sales, plans to invest up to Dh2 billion in Abu Dhabi, where it wants to expand with two partners, bin Kalban said, according to the paper.

The firm, which operates mainly in Dubai, wants to develop industrial zones in the UAE capital and is considering buying land, Kalban said, without giving a timeframe for the investments.

Shares of Dubai Investments rose more than 1 per cent in early trading after the report. They were up 0.91 per cent at 6.37am GMT.

Dubai Investments, which operates about 35 subsidiaries, made Dh989.47 million in 2006, indicating it could post profit of Dh1.39 billion in 2007.

The quarterly profit would beat the Dh140-million forecast of EFG-Hermes in a Reuters survey last month.

Dubai Investments made Dh245.81 million in the fourth quarter of 2006 and Dh1.07 billion in the first nine months of this year. (Reuters)