Qatar’s Barwa Real Estate posts 27.3% profit rise

Qatar’s Barwa Real Estate said on Thursday that its 2013 net profit rose 27.3 percent, indicating that the Gulf Arab state's largest listed developer made a significant fourth-quarter net profit.

Barwa, which agreed a $7.1 billion financial assistance package with state real estate firm Qatari Diar in June, made 1.4bn riyals ($384.5 million) in 2013, up from 1.1bn riyals in the prior year, according to a bourse filing.

The firm did not provide a quarterly breakdown.

However, given that the nine-month profit reported in October was 40 percent lower year-on-year at 467.5m riyals, this points to Barwa making a net profit of more than 900m riyals in the final three months of the year.

Barwa made a net profit of 392m riyals in the final quarter of 2012, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Barwa has struggled in recent times with its debt load, and has offloaded assets and cut staffing costs to cope. Qatari Diar agreed to buy assets worth $7.1bn in June, which included its stake in unlisted Barwa Bank.

The board of Barwa has recommended a cash dividend of 20 percent of the capital to be distributed to shareholders for 2013, Thursday's bourse filing added.