Saudi developer to start 7.5b-riyal Jeddah project

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's Dar Al-Arkan said yesterday it would spend 7.5 billion riyals (100 riyals = RM92.64) over a period of five years on a new residential project in Jeddah.

Construction on the new project, which will have more than 10,000 units, will begin in 2010, according to a statement on the bourse website.

Dar al-Arkan Real Estate Development Co, Saudi Arabia's largest developer by market value, on Saturday reported a 14.4 per cent drop in third-quarter net profit due to a property sector slowdown.

The company made a net profit of 616.2 million riyals in the three months to Sept 30, down from 719.5 million riyals a year earlier, it said in a statement on the Saudi bourse website.
"The decline in third-quarter net profit ... is due to the higher profit margin (made) during the third quarter of last year, itself due to the growth recorded by the real estate market throughout much of 2008," it said.

Revenues stood at 1.52 billion riyals in the three-month period, up from 1.48 billion riyals a year earlier, it added.

"The (revenues') growth of 2.8 per cent reflects the stability of the property market," it said.

By Reuters