Emaar Properties, Dubai's largest listed real estate developer, predicted on Wednesday that its profits would more than quadruple by 2018 as the emirate's economy booms and the company's overseas business expands.

The company, about 29 percent owned by the Dubai government, is seen by many investors as a proxy for the emirate's economy, which relies heavily on real estate development, tourism and the retail industry - sectors in which Emaar is a major player.

The company's optimism underlines Dubai's strong recovery from its 2008-2010 real estate market crash. Average residential property prices jumped 33 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter of 2014, according to consultants JLL.

Emaar chairman Mohamed Alabbar told the company's annual general meeting, a lavish evening event held outdoors by the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper which was built by Emaar, that he expected net profit to hit AED3.07bn ($837m) this year.