Dubai – Mubasher: Arabtec Holding registered a net profit attributed to the owners of the parent of AED 58 million during the first half of this year, 48.8% lower than AED 113 million during the corresponding period in 2018.

From January to June 2019, Arabtec posted a year-on-year decrease of 12.4% in revenue to AED 4.2 billion from AED 4.8 billion, according to a bourse filing to the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on Wednesday.

Arabtec, the leading contractor for social and economic infrastructure, noted that its backlog remained strong at AED 14 billion by the end of June 2019 despite the decline in new awards during the first six months of 2019.

The decrease in both the net profit and revenues for the period is ascribed to a decline in awards in the construction sector in the first half of the year as well as a number of legacy projects completing through 2019, Arabtec added in the press release to the DFM.

Total debt was reduced by AED 373 million in H1-19 and net debt to equity ratios improved to 0 56 x from 1 24 x in the same half last year.

Group CEO Peter Pollard commented, “Our strong pipeline of tender opportunities coupled with Arabtec’s long-standing market reputation provides us with a strong base to grow the company and deliver on our strategic roadmap. We also remain focused on diversifying our backlog geographically and we are selectively evaluating opportunities in other GCC countries and MENA region.”

It is worth noting that during the first quarter of 2019, the company generated a net profit of AED 30.18 million, compared to AED 65.84 million in Q1-18.