Dar Alarkan Q3 profit declines 2.9%

JEDDAH: Saudi property developer Dar Alarkan Real Estate Development Company missed expectations with a 2.9 percent fall in quarterly net profit. Dar Alarkan did not give a reason for the year-on-year decline in third-quarter earnings, saying yesterday earnings fell 33 percent from the second quarter mainly because of lower sales, which were affected by unspecified seasonal factors. The Kingdom's largest property developer made a third-quarter net profit of SR 221 million ($59 million), compared with a forecast for 243.5 million in a Reuters poll. Operating profit fell 6.8 percent to SR 270 million riyals.
The Kingdom's real estate sector is experiencing very strong demand for housing, and the long-term outlook was strengthened in early July when the government said it had approved a mortgage law that will regulate lending to house buyers.
Dar al-Arkan's chairman said in an interview in July the company was comfortable financially after repaying most of its debt, and expected profit growth above 10 percent in 2013. Its second-quarter net profit rose 11 percent.