Dubai Investments posts $16.7m Q4 loss

Conglomerate Dubai Investments, whose manufacturing business was hit by political unrest in Libya and Syria last year, swung to a quarterly loss on Monday, hurt by lower asset valuations.

The firm, in which sovereign fund Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) owns an 11.5 percent stake, had a fourth quarter loss of AED61.4m ($16.72m), according to Reuters calculation. That compared with profit of AED117.4m in the prior-year period in 2010.

It reported 2011 net profit of AED202.5m on Monday, down from AED805m in the previous year. The company did not provide fourth-quarter figures.

Reuters calculated quarterly profit from previous financial statements. Nine-month profit to September 30 was AED263.9m.

"The profit for the year 2011 is comparatively lower mainly due to lesser fair valuation gain on investment properties and loss on fair valuation of investments," it said in a statement.

Dubai Investments, which has interests in several sectors including property and manufacturing, said total assets stood at AED13.8bn for the year ended December 30 from AED14.1bn in 2010.

In October, it said it had secured AED700m ($190.6m) of a AED1.2bn loan it wanted to raise to expand its operations.

Shares of Dubai Investments ended 1.5 percent lower on the Dubai stock exchange before the earnings were announced.