DUBAI, 9 July 2004 — Dubai-based property developer EMAAR Properties said yesterday it posted net profit of 523 million dirhams ($142.4 million) in the first half of 2004, a rise of 63 percent on the year-earlier period. EMAAR also reported a 76 percent rise in revenues to 2.43 billion dirhams ($662 million) from 1.38 billion dirhams ($376 million). Earnings per share reached 3.95 dirhams. EMAAR, which lists the Dubai government as the largest of its 41,000 shareholders and boasts a $7.7-billion asset base, has 13 projects ongoing in the Gulf city-state. These included the Burj Dubai, projected to be the tallest building in the world at some 800 meters (2,500 feet), and The Dubai Mall, promoted as the world’s largest shopping mall. EMAAR posted a 31 percent rise in net profit to a record 676 million dirhams ($184 million) in 2003. Its subsidiaries include Dubai Bank, EMRILL, a joint property and facilities management services venture with the UK-based Carillion PLC, Sahm Technologies and the Amlak Finance mortgage company.
DaimlerChrysler
German-US auto giant DaimlerChrysler has sold about 16 million shares in the European Aeronautic Space and Defense Group (EADS), equivalent to a stake of just under two percent, via the open market, a company spokesman said yesterday. Nevertheless, DaimlerChrysler insisted that it had no intention of selling its strategic 30.07-percent stake in EADS. “It is not up for sale,” the spokesman said. The 16 million shares sold were part of a separate 2.73-percent holding in EADS which DaimlerChrysler had acquired for financial operations, the spokesman explained.
TSMC
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday boasted record sales of 22.52 billion Taiwan dollars ($668.25 million) in June on the back of brisk demand. June sales were up 3.7 percent from May and 26.2 percent from a year earlier, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said in a statement. Cumulative sales in the six months to June rose 37.1 percent year-on-year to 122.38 billion dollars, it said. The June figure marked its third consecutive monthly record.
LG Card
South Korea’s ailing LG Card said yesterday it has signed a memorandum of understanding to sell its brokerage unit LG Investment and Securities to state-run Woori Financial Group. Woori, South Korea’s third largest banking group, will submit a final bidding proposal for the brokerage after conducting due diligence, LG Card said in a statement. LG Card had been looking for a buyer of a 21.2 percent stake in LG Investment and Securities via open bidding to help resolve the liquidity problems in the country’s largest card issuer.
Yahoo
Internet giant Yahoo Inc said Wednesday quarterly net profit and sales more than doubled, but the outlook was softer than expected, shaking investors. Within minutes of the news hitting traders’ screens, Yahoo shares slumped $4.65, or 14.3 percent, to $27.95. Yahoo said net profit leapt 121.4 percent from a year earlier to $112.5 million in the three months to June 30. Earnings per share surged to eight cents a share, in line with analysts’ predictions, from four cents. Revenue soared 159.0 percent to $832.3 million.
