Dubai’s Arabtec Q2 net up 11 percent, misses estimates

Arabtec, the construction company at the center of Dubai's stock market turmoil, reported an 11 percent rise in second-quarter profit on Sunday, missing analysts' estimates.

Net profit climbed to 103 million dirhams ($28.1m) in the three months to June 30 from $25m a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast $30m.

Revenues jumped 51 percent to $656m on the back of business growth in the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf markets, said Arabtec, Dubai's biggest listed builder.

Profit growth slowed from the first quarter; in the first half of this year, net profit rose 55 percent to $65m, while revenues rose 45 percent to $1.2bn.

Arabtec's share price more than tripled earlier this year, then plunged by more than two-thirds as tensions emerged between major shareholder Aabar Investments and chief executive Hasan Ismaik, leading to Ismaik's resignation in June.
The stock's slide triggered margin calls that sent shockwaves through the entire Dubai market, which lost $30bn of value from peak to trough, though it has now recovered about half of those losses.

Since Ismaik's departure Arabtec has launched a restructuring plan, putting some of his expansion plans under review and laying off a "limited" number of staff. It has not described the restructuring in detail, and Sunday's statement did not give further information about it.

"All decisions taken by the Board and executed by the management aim at achieving the shareholders' and investors' interests, elevating the company's position, increasing the revenues and achieving potential growth in future," the statement said.