By Farah Halime www.thenational.ae
Emaar Properties dragged on the Dubai index this morning after the developer’s Indian unit swung to a net loss.
The Indian subsidiary of the developer of the world’s tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, swung to a loss of 2.1 billion Indian rupees ($46 million) for the year ended March 31.
The company, Emaar MGF Land, had a profit of 738.1 million rupees in the year-earlier period, it said in a statement on the Bombay Stock Exchange website.
Emaar Properties dropped 0.3 per cent to Dh3.08.
Aldar Properties also succumbed to muted trading this morning as it fell even as Abu Dhabi’s biggest developer said its Trust Tower is ready to lease.
The company slipped 0.8 per cent to Dh1.3 on the capital’s exchange this morning.
It has started marketing space in what is one of the largest office buildings in Abu Dhabi, but a competitive property market is expected to make it difficult to find customers, analysts have said.
Shares in the heavyweight property sector have steadily pared off gains following a rally in last week as the country’s federal government said it would extend the visa period for homebuyers from six months to three years.
The wider benchmark, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, was flat at 2,729.17 points.
Traders will be keeping a close eye on banking stocks in Qatar, with Qatar National Bank expected to report possibly after market hours. Consensus figures from Reuters show most analysts expect better than expected results for the Qatar’s biggest lender.
Estimates place second quarter earnings at between 16 per cent and 33 per cent higher than the same period in 2010.
QNB reported a net profit of 1.4 billion Qatari riyals in the second quarter of 2010.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index slipped 0.5 per cent to 1,550.39 points this morning.
Saudi Arabian companies, which are often the first to report, have already released second quarter results.
Jarir Marketing said second quarter earnings rose 30 per cent to 23.4 million Saudi riyals, compared to the second quarter of last year.
