Emaar Properties has a sales backlog close to AED180 billion ($49 billion), with collections running at 98%, founder and managing director Mohamed Alabbar said.
“We have a backlog close to AED180 billion; and of course, every month we have big collection, and our collection (rate) was 98 percent,” Alabbar said at the ninth Sharjah Investment Forum on Thursday, according to Zawya.
The backlog covers signed property sales and off-plan contracts that have not yet been delivered or recognized as revenue.
Emaar, which is listed on the Dubai Financial Market, typically sells around 4,000 residential units a month, with about 600 cancellations, Alabbar said.
He said cancellations temporarily doubled to around 1,200 amid regional uncertainty but have since fallen back below 600. Collections stayed at 98% throughout, he said.
“We had to dip down during the war and after the ceasefire we are still collecting exactly like before the war,” Alabbar said.
He said Emaar does not offer discounts. “I don’t give discounts. We give quality,” he said.
Alabbar said hotel occupancy was running at about 60%. He also cited spending at Noon, the e-commerce marketplace he founded, as a measure of consumer demand. “The numbers are very healthy,” he said.
The state news agency WAM also reported the backlog figure from the forum.
Emaar shares closed unchanged at AED11.40 on Thursday.
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