Dubai – Mubasher: Arabtec Holding on Wednesday posted a net profit of AED 256 million for 2018, 108.3% up from AED 123 million in 2017.

The company’s revenue increased by 7.8% year-on-year to AED 9.853 million last year from AED 9.141 million, the Dubai-based builder said in a statement.

Meanwhile, general and administrative expenses slightly fell to 3% of revenue last year from 3.5% in 2017, the leading contractor for social and economic infrastructure added.

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) surged by 72.1% in 2018 to AED 364 million, compared to AED 212 million a year earlier.

Backlog totalled AED 15.6 billion at the end of 2018 on the back of a solid pipeline of tender opportunities in infrastructure and industrial sectors worth AED 48 billion, the company added.

In the same vein, Arabtec’s board of directors has proposed a cash dividend of AED 75 million or 5 fils per share for 2018, 144% up from 2.05 fils per share for 2017.

Arabtec, listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), previously reported a net profit of AED 67.37 million for the third quarter of 2018, compared to AED 10.31 million in the same period of 2017.

In the first nine months period of the year, the company’s profits soared 250% year-on-year to AED 182.58 million from AED 52.18 million.