Damac narrows second-quarter loss amid property market recovery

Damac narrows second-quarter loss amid property market recovery

Damac Properties, the UAE's third-biggest property developer by market capitalisation, narrowed its second-quarter loss amid continued recovery of the UAE's property market.

Net loss for the three months to the end of June reached Dh101 million ($27.5m), lower than the Dh280m it reported for the same period last year, the company said in a statement on Saturday to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are traded.

Revenue for the reporting period fell to Dh735.75m, from Dh1.14 billion a year earlier.

The company also reduced its loss for the first six months of the year to Dh290.63m, from Dh386.69m reported for the first half of 2020.

An increase in booked sales in the first half, however, also resulted in higher selling expenses to Dh1.01bn, the company said.

Damac, which built the Middle East’s only Trump-branded golf course, reported booked sales of Dh2.6bn for the first six months of the year and the delivery of 2,700 units in Dubai.

The company's narrowing of losses comes amid a gradual recovery of the UAE’s real estate market, as the Arab world’s second-largest economy rebounds from the pandemic-driven slowdown.

In July, the real estate market in Dubai recorded a 15 per cent rise in prices, as the vaccination programme and new stimulus measures boost investor confidence, according to Property Monitor.

The average property price in the emirate climbed to Dh941 per square foot last month, from Dh818 per square foot recorded during the same month last year, according to the monthly market report.