Emaar ‘not worried’ about Iran war impact

• Chairman: strong rebound will follow
• CEO Alabbar absent from AGM
• Share price up 10% in a week

Dubai’s largest developer Emaar Properties is “not worried” about the impact of the Iran war on its business, its chairman Jamal Bin Thaniah said at the company’s annual general meeting. 

“This is the normal impact in any market,” Thaniah said, referring to the group’s more than 20 percent share price drop since the start of the conflict between US-Israel and Iran.

“We believe these erosions are quite temporary. [With] any geopolitical conflict, either in this region or worldwide, we believe a strong rebound will follow it.” 

Mohamed Alabbar, Emaar’s founder and chief executive, was absent from the meeting, an empty chair with his name in the centre of the stage. AGBI was unable to verify the reason for his absence.

The rest of the board were present and the Iran war was only mentioned once during the 40-minute meeting. 

“We have seen many conflicts in the region. But we have not seen a steep dive in the value of our brand, or the regional brand,” Thaniah said. 

The furthest the chairman went to suggest a downturn was alluding that the property market is at the end of its upward cycle. 

“We’ve always seen a bottom of the cycle and a top of the cycle. I’m quite optimistic about our brand and our strength. Honestly I’m not worried.” 

Further reading:

• Dubai landlords confront rising risk of tenant defaults
• RAK Properties outlines plan as Iran war tests market
• Dubai property valuers hold firm but banks are wary

Less than two weeks ago, Alabbar told broadcaster CNBC it was “unrealistic” that Dubai property prices would drop more than 15 percent in face of the regional crisis. 

“There could be a bit of a cool down, but I don’t see it,” he said. “In my opinion, I think it’s very unrealistic. There is huge demand coming in. The supply that is coming in will be good for the market.”

In the past week, Emaar stock has risen again by more than 10 percent. 

In terms of real estate prices, Dubai can be viewed two ways: ready units and off-plan units. As a developer, Emaar makes its money by selling the latter.

In the past month off-plan unit prices were down 9 percent, while transactions were down 21 percent, according to Dubai Land Department data collated by DXB Interact.

For ready units, prices actually rose 5 percent but transactions sank 30 percent.