Dubai\\\'s Nakheel posts surge in profits

DUBAI, July 9 (AFP): Dubai's Nakheel real estate giant, hit badly during the global debt crisis, said Wednesday its profits surged 54 per cent in the first half of 2014 to reach $502.7 million.
The government-owned entity, which built Dubai's palm-shaped island and a cluster of isles in the form of a world map, said its net profits hit 1.85 billion dirham ($502.7 million), compared to 1.2 billion dirham in the first six months of 2013.
It said strong revenues from property development as well as improving performance in retail, leasing and leisure businesses contributed to the results.
"These robust financial results reflect the growth witnessed in the real estate sector in Dubai," said Nakheel's chairman Ali Rashid Lootah.
The company that was fully acquired by the government over its debt woes said last month it will repay all remaining bank debts of $2.15 billion in August, ahead of schedule.
Nakheel had piled up a mountain of debt during five years of rapid growth in Dubai's property sector, before the global financial crisis hit the Gulf emirate in 2009.