Dubai: Emaar Malls Group (EMG), a division of Emaar Properties, reported on Sunday a 22.6 per cent increase in full-year net profit.

The company made Dh1.656 billion in the 12 months December 31, 2015 according to a statement posted to the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). This compares to a Dh1.35 billion profit in the same period a year earlier. Rental income for the year was Dh2.992 billion, an 11 per cent improvement on the Dh2.964 it made in rental income in 2014, the Group said.

For the fourth quarter, Emaar Malls, whose flagship property is The Dubai Mall, made Dh435 million in the three months to December 31, 2015, which was a 5.5 per cent increase on the Dh412 million it made in the 2014 fourth quarter. Rental income for the quarter was Dh821 million. No comparative 2014 figure was stated.

Occupancy across its assets, including The Dubai Mall, reached 96 per cent in full-year 2015 while its rental renewal rate rose by 25 per cent. The total number of visitors to its assets were over 124 million, representing a 9 per cent increase on the previous year.

The Dubai Mall accounted for the bulk of all asset visitors with 80 million people visiting in 2015, according to the bourse statement.

“The robust performance of all our mall assets underline our commitment to sustained value creation for our stakeholders,” Mohammad Alabbar, Emaar Malls and Emaar Properties Chairman, said in the bourse statement.

Additional square feet

In 2015, Emaar Malls had a gross leasable area of roughly 6 million square feet, as per the statement, and is currently being expanded with an additional 1 million square feet of built up area at The Dubai Mall’s Fashion Avenue. Emaar Malls said the Fashion Avenue expansion will add 150 brands to the mall.

It also said the Vogue Fashion Dubai Experience held over two days in October at The Dubai Mall was its most successful event of the year, attracting a surge in visitor numbers. It did not state what the increase was.

Emaar Properties owns 84.6 per cent of Emaar Malls with the remaining 15.4 per cent listed on the DFM in September 2014.