Wednesday, Apr 04, 2012
By Jana Weigand
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
LONDON (Dow Jones)--U.K. property services provider Styles & Wood Group PLC (STY.LN) aims to take advantage of the uptick in Dubai's property market through its joint venture in the emirate.
"There is a developing secondary property market [in Dubai] where refurbishment and improvement of existing facilities, whether that is commercial office space or retail, is creating a growing market," Chief Executive Tony Lenehan told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview after the company announced its 2011 earnings.
"We have opportunities for growth in that area and with our joint venture partner we'll look to exploit that over the next two or three years," he added.
Finance Director Philip Lanigan said the construction sector in Dubai is now slowly ticking, amid wider growth in the region. "There is growth in Abu Dhabi and Qatar is in a very healthy state," he added.
Styles & Wood's joint venture operation was established in May 2009 and it delivered its first profit in 2011. The company's share of its joint venture's profit was GBP86,000, compared with a loss of GBP249,000 a year earlier.
Earlier Wednesday, the company said it swung to a full-year profit but said 2012 had started more slowly than expected. Pretax profit came to GBP479,000, compared with a loss of GBP703,000 a year earlier.
At 1110 GMT, shares were down 1.4 pence, or 11%, at 11.8 pence.
-By Jana Weigand, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9314; jana.weigand@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-04-12 1133GMT
