Dubai's Deyaar Q1 net profit drops 64%

Struggling Dubai developer Deyaar posted a 64 percent drop in its first-quarter net profit and said it plans to deliver three long-pending projects by the end of this year. Deyaar made a net profit of AED9.4m (US$2.56m) during the first-quarter, compared with AED26.3m in the prior-year period. Dubai's second-largest property developer by market value said its gross revenues reached AED150m in the quarter and its total assets were valued at AED6.7bn. Deyaar, badly hit by Dubai's property bust, continues to reel under the impact of the global financial crisis. The company said the repercussions of this were seen on the first quarter as well. "We look forward to delivering another three projects over the course of this year," Saeed Al Qatami, chief executive of Deyaar said in a statement. The statement gave no details of the projects which the company was working on. Dubai's property sector was hit hard by a global economic downturn, with billions of dollars worth of construction projects put on hold or cancelled, while property prices slumped as much as 60 percent from its peak in 2008. Shares of Deyaar ended 0.5 percent lower on the Dubai bourse before the earnings were announced.