Depa in red after Burj Khalifa claim

Interior contractors Depa Ltd reported a 2010 net loss of Dh198.2 million ($53.98 million), as the firm was hurt by claims over the world's largest tower and goodwill impairment charges.

Depa said in a statement to Nasdaq Dubai on Thursday that it incurred an operating loss of Dh3.8 million for the year, excluding the one-time Burj Khalifa interim claim of Dh186 million, which has been taken through the income statement.

Chief Executive Mohannad Sweid said 2010 was the company's "recession year" but expects to return to high profit levels in 2011.

It reported a goodwill impairment and deferred tax asset write-off of Dh67 million for the year.

In 2009, Depa had profits of Dh234 million. Depa said its backlog remains strong at Dh2.2 billion, marginally higher than its backlog of Dh2.1 billion in 2009.

The company said it would continue to add new markets to its portfolio like Malaysia, Azerbaijan, Thailand, Yemen, Syria and Yemen.

Depa said infrastructure projects will become an increasing portion of its revenues and it expects the recent win by Qatar to host the Fifa World Cup in 2022 to drive growth in hospitality and infrastructure.

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