Developer increases margins as operating costs are reduced
Mortgage boom that helps to fuel KSA housing
RIYADH: Saudi developer Dar Al Arkan said net income in the first quarter more than doubled as it boosted real estate sales margins. real estate in qatar
Net revenue jumped by nearly 130 percent to SR28.5 million ($7.6 million) compared to the previous year, the company reported on Sunday.
Total sales decreased by approximately 6.4 percent to SR554.8 million. The property company has been able to offset the impact by reducing its operating costs despite a decrease in leasing revenue and an increase in the cost of financing. Saudi property developers benefit from the Kingdom-wide mortgage credit boom that fuel the building of tens of thousands of new homes. The developer said earlier this month it was selling villas co-branded with Lebanese designer Elie Saab.
The villas are located in Shams Ar Riyadh's upmarket project. The project is on King Khalid Road, north of Riyadh, covering an area of over 5 million sqm. Faisal Durrani, Knight Frank's Middle East Research Chairman, says, "The pandemic has driven a widespread economic slowdown across the Kingdom, just like other global economies.
However, improved business confidence in all the key segments of the real estate sector during the closing months of 2020, backed by Vision 2030 economic reforms and a rapid response to COVID-19, has been helpful for driving a turnaround in performance."
In the office grade A market rentals in the Kingdom's three main centers have experienced a fragmentated performance, with rent in Riyadh marginally rising at SR1,465 ($390,67) per square metre, while rent in Jeddah has decreased by 2.8 percent to SR1,008 per square metre.
CAIRO: Sky Abu Dhabi Developments, a subsidiary of the UAE-based Diamond Group, is aiming to generate sales in the new administrative capital of about 1.5 billion Egyptian pounds ($100 million) this year.
Sky Abu Dhabi Developments CEO Mustafa Salah said that the property company had so far made EGP700 million in contractual sales from this project, of which EGP250 million had been invested this year.
The New Administrative Capital project of the company is set on 23 feddans in the area of R8 and comprises 1,000 housing units, with a total investment amounting to EGP4 billion.
In the light of the demand on its existing project, Abdelrahman Agamy, CEO of Diamond Group and Sky Abu Dhabi Developments, said the firm plans to invest EGP 15 billion on Egyptian markets in the next two years.
They also looked at possible investment opportunities on the north coast of Egypt and in eastern Cairo, with land areas of 50 to 100 feddans.
Established in 1978, the Diamond Group has a portfolio of approximately 17 UAE projects worth some $1 billion.