JP Morgan assigns overweight rating to Aldar

The investment bank JP Morgan has rated Aldar Properties as overweight and said the company is its top pick in its coverage of the UAE property sector.

“Aldar Properties is Abu Dhabi’s largest property developer with a diversified construction portfolio and 37 per cent sovereign ownership,” Harm Meijer said in a MENA report dated today. “Despite the company’s relatively high debt our preference for ADX-listed Aldar is premised on our expectation for rising contributions of recurring income to its top line from investment properties relative to its local peers.”

Mr Meijer said he expects the company’s income for 2009-2012 will form nearly 19 per cent of Aldar’s bottom line, well above the averages of 10 per cent for Emaar and Sorouh.