Dubai Investments Q1 profit falls nearly 45%

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PROFIT DROP: Dubai Investments saw first quarter profits fall nearly 45 percent compared to the same period in 2008.

Dubai Investments Co's first-quarter profit fell almost 45 percent as the diversified holding company made no property sales in the three-month period.

Net income fell to 269.12 million dirhams ($73.26 million), or 0.08 dirham per share, in the first quarter, from 488.28 million dirhams, or 0.15 dirham per share, a year earlier, it said in a statement on the Dubai bourse website on Sunday.

Dubai Investments said real estate sales revenue fell to zero in the three-month period from 214 million dirhams in the first quarter of 2008.

Last week the firm's chief executive Khalid bin Kalban said the results would be satisfactory given current market conditions, adding income of its real estate arm would slump about 86 percent.

Developers in the UAE have been hit hard since the global financial crisis ended a six-year construction boom late last year.

Hundred of billions of dollars worth of projects have cancelled in recent months while property prices have slumped.

The firm's shareholders approved last week distribution of 10 percent in bonus shares and a 10 percent cash dividend for 2008. (Reuters)

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