Dubai's Union Properties reports £37m loss

Dubai client giant Union Properties is the latest of the UAE’s big names to report a slump in profits. The company made a loss of 228m dirhams (£37m) in the second quarter of the year. During the same period last year it made a profit of 318m dirhams (£52m), it said in a statement today to the stock exchange where it is listed, the Dubai Financial Market.

Union Properties made a loss of 198m dirhams (£33m) in the first half of the year, compared with a profit of 556m dirhams (£91m) a year earlier.

Signs of trouble at the Union Properties emerged earlier this year when it put on hold its flagship £320m Formula One theme park in Dubailand.

The news follows poor results from rival developer Aldar Properties, where profit fell 80% in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. The giant Abu Dhabi developer made a net profit of 1.14bn dirhams (£186m) during the first half of 2009, although this was massively down compared to the previous year’s 2.6bn dirhams (£436m).  

The UAE’s biggest contractor Arbatec also saw a second quarter profit slump. The firm’s profit was down by a third in the second quarter of 2009. Arabtec reported a second quarter net profit of 183m dirhams (£30m) for the second quarter, which was 33% lower than in the second quarter of 2008. Arabtec made a net profit of 345m dirhams (£57m) for the first half of this year, compared to 505m dirhams (£83m) in the same period in 2008.