Arabtec subsidiary wins Dh196 million Emaar project

Target Engineering is awarded Dh196m construction deal for Downtown Dubai project

26/09/2017 12:59 AST

Arabtec Holding, the UAE's top-listed contractor, said its wholly-owned subsidiary Target Engineering Construction Company (Target) won a Dh196 million construction deal for a project in Dubai's Downtown area.

The contract awarded by Emaar Properties, the UAE's biggest publically-traded real estate developer, for the phase one of the Forte project involves construction of five basements for two residential towers. The work will begin this month and is expected to be completed by September 2018, Arabtec said in a statement to Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are traded.

"We look forward to working on another project with Emaar Properties," Arabtec's group chief executive Hamish Tyrwhitt said, adding that the company has continued to win projects that are aligned with "our key geographies and our key competencies whilst maintaining a robust risk management approach".

The construction sector, which has recovered well from the 2008 property crash, has faced some headwinds during the last two years amid slower economic growth and lower oil prices. Construction activity however, has picked up in recent quarters as developers launched new projects ahead of Dubai Expo in 2020. Dubai itself is expected to award Dh11bn worth of Expo related contracts this year.

In July, Arabtec reported four new contract wins for Target worth a combined Dh289m. They included work on a high-rise development in Dubai's Business Bay, the installation of industrial process tanks in Taweelah, Abu Dhabi, substation upgrades at Das Island in Abu Dhabi, in addition to a cofferdam removal and revetment construction in the Western Region.

Arabtec, which has undergone a recapitalisation programme following heavy losses in 2016 has returned to profitability reporting a second consecutive jump in quarterly income in August on the back of falling costs.

The construction firm posted a net income of Dh40 million for the second quarter of this year compared with a loss of Dh186m for the same period in 2016. It had reported a Dh18m profit for the first three months of this year.

The National