Emaar profit rises 18% to $5.4bn as property sales reach $9.4bn

Emaar Properties booked net profit before tax of AED19.8 billion ($5.4 billion) in the first nine months of 2026, 18 percent more than in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 13 percent to AED37.5 billion from AED33.1 billion. EBITDA increased 19 percent to AED19.7 billion, a margin of 53 percent.

Group property sales reached AED34.7 billion ($9.4 billion) over the nine months. The revenue backlog from property sales stood at AED158.8 billion ($43.2 billion) at the end of September, up 6 percent year on year. Emaar said that pipeline gives it visibility on revenue recognition across the coming years.

Development arm carries the group

Emaar Development, the build-to-sell business, recorded revenue of AED22.2 billion, up 26 percent, and net profit before tax of AED12.5 billion, up 28 percent. Its UAE operations sold AED26.2 billion of property. Consolidated revenue from UAE property development, a figure that also takes in Dubai Creek Harbour and other operations, came to AED28.3 billion, 18 percent higher. The UAE development backlog was AED127.2 billion at the end of September.

Handovers and contracts

Emaar handed over more than 4,800 residential units in the UAE during the period. More than 80 percent of its active UAE projects were running ahead of schedule as of September 30. Emaar Development awarded 23 main works contracts valued at AED13.5 billion and 43 infrastructure contracts worth AED4.3 billion over the nine months.

Fourteen launches

Fourteen projects were launched across Emaar's master-planned communities in the first nine months. They included Serro, Serro II and Salva at Heights Country Club & Wellness, Valia at Dubai Creek Harbour and Alva at The Valley. The launches sit alongside an AED200 billion masterplan the company announced earlier in the year.

One-time payout

The board approved a one-time special dividend of AED4.4 billion, equal to AED0.5 per share and 50 percent of share capital. The payout comes on top of the regular annual dividend.

Founder Mohamed Alabbar said the results reflected construction, handovers and the management of Emaar's destinations. He said the company remained focused on delivery quality and on how its communities perform over the long term. The clarity of the UAE's long-term economic direction, he added, shapes how Emaar weighs investments beyond any single reporting period.

International sales and revenue

Sales outside the UAE reached AED8.5 billion, 5 percent above the first nine months of 2025. International development revenue rose 16 percent to AED1.6 billion, about 4.3 percent of group revenue. Emaar described the international portfolio as important to its long-term strategy and to spreading its geographic exposure, even as it contributes a small share of the top line.

Land reserve

The company holds a land bank of roughly 604 million square feet across the UAE and international markets, of which about 315 million square feet is in the UAE. Emaar framed the reserve as development capacity that runs beyond what the current sales backlog already accounts for.

Malls and leasing

Shopping malls, retail and commercial leasing generated AED5.2 billion of revenue, up 10 percent, with EBITDA of AED4.4 billion, up 8 percent. Occupancy across the mall portfolio was about 98 percent at September 30. Dubai Mall added Primark's first UAE store and Ulta Beauty's second location in the country during the period, along with luxury openings in Fashion Avenue. Emaar attributed some of the stability of its retail income to a leasing structure weighted toward base rent.

Hotels under pressure

Hospitality, leisure and entertainment brought in AED2.4 billion of revenue. Regional tourism conditions weighed on performance: average occupancy at Emaar's UAE hotels fell to 63 percent from 80 percent a year earlier, with domestic and local demand only partly offsetting weaker international visitor numbers.

Across malls, hospitality, leisure, entertainment and commercial leasing, recurring revenue came to AED7.6 billion, broadly flat on the first nine months of 2025. Recurring EBITDA was AED5.9 billion, 30 percent of group EBITDA. Emaar said the mix gives it earnings from development and from income that keeps arriving after projects are completed. About 25 percent of revenue now comes from malls, hospitality, leisure, entertainment, commercial leasing and international operations.

The nine-month numbers show where the two halves of the business pulled apart. Development revenue and profit grew at a double-digit pace while recurring income held flat, held back by hotel occupancy that has not recovered to prior levels. The special dividend and the AED158.8 billion backlog describe the same position from different angles: cash from units already sold is arriving faster than it can be booked as revenue, and the company has to decide how much of it to hand back and how much to keep pouring into construction.

Emaar has delivered more than 132,800 residential units globally since 2002 and operates 42 hotels and resorts with 10,187 keys.