Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group (DHCOG), a unit of global investment holding company Dubai Holding, has posted a net profit of Dh2.1 billion ($571.5 million) during the first half of the year.

DHCOG’s revenue reached Dh5.6 billion during the period and EBITDA was at Dh2.8 billion.

Mohammad Abdulla Al Gergawi, chairman of Dubai Holding, said: “Our ability to continue to generate solid earnings highlights both the strength of our financial position and the success of our strategy that is focused on investing in sectors vital to Dubai’s economic development. We are confident that our financial position will strengthen further once construction starts in the strategic projects we announced recently.”

Ahmad Bin Byat, chief executive officer of Dubai Holding, said: “Our solid performance during the first half of 2014 comes as a direct result of our team’s dedication to enhance the Group’s earnings and maintain a regular cash flow, while continuing to look for new and innovative opportunities aimed at further developing the fields we operate in.

“We are confident that our performance will continue to improve over the second half of the year and we expect our annual net profits to exceed Dh4billion ($1.08 billion).”

Dubai Holding operates in 24 countries through four leading businesses. These include Jumeirah Group, a global luxury hotel company; Tecom Investments, which manages businesses parks in multiple sectors; Dubai Properties Group, one of the largest fully integrated real estate and community development businesses in Dubai; and Emirates International Telecommunications, which runs a portfolio of regional and international technology and telecommunications assets.

During the first half of 2014, Jumeirah Group expanded its international portfolio and signed an agreement to operate a luxury resort, currently being developed on the Mauritius Islands and expected to be launched in 2018.

Tecom Investments continued to attract local, regional and international institutions operating in various sectors, including education, logistics, industries, media, research, science and other fields. During the first half of 2014, Tecom’s Dubai Design District issued more than 140 licences to local and international design companies.

Dubai Properties Group (DPG) launched new projects during the first six months of 2014 introducing almost 800 residential apartments. These include the units within its luxury residential project Manazel Al Khor, which is located in DPG’s creek-side Culture Village destination.

During the first six months of 2014, the Group focused its efforts on lowering its debt profile and maintaining an optimum debt to equity ratio, a statement said.

To that end, DHCOG utilised available liquidity to repay its €750 million ($971 million) bond in January, and voluntarily repaid the entire outstanding principal $319.3 million of an amortising facility originally maturing on December 31, 2015, it added. – TradeArabia News Service