Dubai: Aldar Properties is pushing mid-market housing in Abu Dhabi right at the top of its agenda for this year, with planned developments on its two key destinations, Reem and Yas islands. This forms part of a Dh3 billion investment rollout for the year, which will also extend to the other real estate assets it is in, including hospitality and education. The focus will be on “untapped segments” that exist in the Abu Dhabi realty space.

While no specific timeline has been given for the launch of the mid-market projects — targeted at buyers in the Dh10,000-Dh25,000 income range — it would go some way towards correcting the imbalance currently seen in Abu Dhabi’s property space. Over the years, developers have stacked up on high-end launches, leaving the affordable housing segment virtually untapped.

Aldar’s plans would see those buyers currently “buying studios in high-end destinations” switch to affordable end-user properties. And with the infrastructure fairly advanced at Reem and Yas, this makes it easier for Aldar to fit in its affordable housing clusters within those master-developments. A top official added there were no plans to acquire additional land, given that its current portfolio extends to 70 million square metres, including on prime stretches such as the Dubai-Abu Dhabi highway.

The developer, meanwhile, announced a net profit of Dh2.8 billion, up 8 per cent from the Dh2.6 billion it posted in 2015. Development sales fetched Dh3.5 billion last year but the developer expects them to decline to Dh3 billion this year. The company has proposed a dividend of 11 fils a share, up from 10 fils in 2015.

According to Greg Fewer, chief financial officer, the numbers confirm Aldar’s “strong, resilient business”, with some of its recent launches such as the Yas Acres — where properties are priced between Dh3 million to Dh4 million — getting solid buyer response. As for its retail asset, Yas Mall has a 94 per cent occupancy, while office assets are running at 90 per cent-plus.

With its hotels, Aldar averaged a 77 per cent occupancy rate, better than the city-wide average of 73 per cent.

The residential portfolio occupancy was 92 per cent by year-end — “a strong performance in the face of a challenging macroeconomic environment”. There were some “modest provisions” during the fourth quarter, totalling Dh100 million.

With its residential off-plan portfolio, officials said they saw no need to cut asking prices given the state of the market. In fact, on some properties within six months or so of nearing completion, they actually raised prices.

Aldar remains the sole developer in Abu Dhabi still talking about new launches despite transaction activity having ground to a near halt through last year. Based on this perspective, seeding the market with another Dh3 billion worth of projects is quite substantial. In recent years, it has maintained a launch portfolio of 1,500 units a year.

According to Fewer, there might be opportunities for refinancing its sukuk exposure. Aldar last August successfully went through a refinancing of its Dh1.8 billion loan portfolio.

In a statement, Mohammad Khalifa Al Mubarak, the developer’s CEO, said: “Our business continues to mature and our diverse and robust assets have delivered consistent returns through natural market cycles. Regarding our asset management portfolio, despite a softer operating environment, we achieved our target of Dh1.6 billion recurring revenue net operating income.”