Emaar’s mixed pie
Emaar Chairman Mohamed Alabbar said in a February 10 statement, “We see 2011 to be a signature year for Emaar with significant revenue streams from international operations kicking in.” In Syria, Emaar is developing The Eighth Gate mixed-use project, and the offices in the project’s commercial center, which will feature the Damascus Stock Exchange building, are already functional. Alabbar’s statement highlighted the firm’s expansion outside the UAE, mentioning that its residential projects in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey are progressing, while adding that The New Istanbul Project in Turkey would feature an extensive shopping mall. The firm’s growing retail and hospitality sector has paid off: the proportion of revenues from this segment reached 24 percent, or $3.3 billion in 2010. Though Emaar posted a 31 percent increase in net profits in 2010, reaching $826 million, its fourth quarter results were gloomy in comparison to analysts’ expectations. Net profits of $74.6 million fell 62 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2009.
From Beirut to Mumbai
Beirut-based contractor Arabian Construction Company (ACC) has signed an estimated $98.7 million contract to build India’s highest skyscraper, World One, in a joint-venture partnership with Indian contractor Simplex Infrastructures. When complete in 2015, the 117-story Mumbai tower, at 442 meters high, will be the second tallest residential tower in the world. ACC is currently building two others in Dubai Marina, The Princess Tower and the Pentominium, which will break world records for the highest residential towers. Gassan Merehbi, chairman of ACC, said in a February 6 press release, “This is our first venture in India, and we are very pleased to be working on such a prestigious project with India’s leading developer. We are proud to contribute our resources and expertise in high-rise construction that we have developed in the Gulf.”
Builders feel the pinch in Jordan
Local contractors in Jordan had a dismal year in 2010, as the value of non-residential construction, such as roads, bridges and shopping centers built by local firms has dropped 80 percent to $1.068 billion, according to Ahmad Tarawneh, president of the Jordan Construction Contractors Association. He told the Jordan Times in February that although the government’s capital expenditure budget was raised for 2011 to $1.7 billion from $1.4 billion in 2010, contractors believe this amount will not salvage the country’s construction industry. Contractors say the government has not been active in attracting foreign investment or enabling public-private partnerships in the field. “Local contractors used to benefit from foreign investments coming to the country but last year the government did not implement development projects and it failed in attracting new investments,” said Tarawneh. The newspaper noted that 130,000 people in Jordan work indirectly in this sector, which spans some 240 professions.
Construction increases in Lebanon
Construction permits given out in 2010 covered 17.6 million square meters of land, 22.7 percent greater than the amount in 2009, according to the Order of Engineers of Beirut and Tripoli. In December of 2010, however, newly issued permits fell 34 percent in comparison to December 2009. Cement deliveries were 25.2 percent higher in December of this year than they were in December 2009. Overall in 2010, cement deliveries increased by 6.7 percent year-on-year, hitting a total of 5.2 million tons, according to Byblos Bank.
CCC do good….
An intensive course offering Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certified specialized training will be available to engineering students at the American University of Beirut (AUB) starting in April thanks to a grant by Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC), which has employed more than 700 AUB students and contributed to the Scientific Research Building on campus. The university signed a memorandum of understanding with CCC’s Area General Manager Yusuf Kan’an, whose firm will finance the year-long Green Building Training Program, according to a university press release.
…and CCC do bad
Consolidated Contractor’s Company (CCC), the multinational construction firm founded by Said Khoury, is facing contempt of court over a failure to pay a $64.5 million liability settlement to former partner Munib Masri. As one of the largest contractors in the Middle East, CCC made revenues of $4.2 billion in 2010, according to British daily The Guardian. A British high court judge called the construction firm “a complete disgrace,” after CCC did not align itself to the court’s orders to pay Masri for his share in a joint project involving Yemeni oil revenues. Masri was a joint venture partner of CCC in Yemen, where he was promised to receive 10 percent of the oil concession profits from an oilfield the firm had developed in the south of the country. The court had approved orders to freeze the assets of CCC in the United Kingdom, Bermuda and Switzerland, in addition to a January order to freeze its assets in Nigeria, Palestine and the Cayman Islands. Khoury and his sons could face imprisonment if they fail to deliver the liability payments.
Khartoum takes off
Sudan awarded a $1.2 billion contract to the China Harbour Engineering Company, a subsidiary of state-owned China Communications, to build its new international airport in Khartoum. The move further sweetens state-level transactions between the two nations, as Chinese firms are heavily involved in Sudan’s hefty oil production. The airport will have a runway long enough to land an Airbus 380. The project will see the construction of control towers, terminals, runways and other facilities and will replace Khartoum’s existing central airport. “Upon completion, the new airport will greatly upgrade (the) internationalization of Khartoum,” said the firm. China, which reaps a steady flow of oil from Sudan, is the largest investor in the northeastern African nation.
Skyscraper fire sale
Following Syrian businessman Simon Halab’s fall into bankruptcy in April 2010, the last of his nine office towers has been put up for sale at $456.4 million. CB Richard Ellis listed the Aviva Tower in London on February 14 and suggested that the 23-story property may appeal to pension funds and overseas buyers, who bought 54 percent of the property deals in central London in the fourth quarter of 2010. CBRE said in its statement, “This quoting price is intended only as a guide to the level of offers that may be taken seriously in the sales process and should not be taken to represent the expected sale price for the Aviva Property, which may ultimately be higher or lower than the quoting price.” In July, the United States-based Carlyle Group paid $1.08 billion for six of Halab’s office properties, which CBRE loan servicing had displayed on the market to raise money for the creditors that Halab had defaulted on, according to the website PropertyEU.
