Dubai Investments sees 88% drop in Q3 net profit

Dubai Investments reported an 88 percent drop in its third-quarter net profit on Thursday, with the UAE conglomerate impacted by losses on some of its investments. The company, in which sovereign fund Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) owns an 11.5 percent stake, made a third-quarter net profit of AED24.9m ($6.8m), compared with a net profit of AED213.61m in the same three months of 2010. The results were below the expectations of the company's chief executive Khalid bin Kalban, who said last month that he saw a profit of AED30m. The company made a loss of AED19.4m on fair value of investments in the quarter, compared with a gain of nearly AED37m in the corresponding period in 2010. Dubai Investments is involved in several sectors ranging from real estate to manufacturing. Its manufacturing business faced setbacks due to regional unrest in key markets like Libya, Syria and Yemen. The company said last month it had secured AED700m of a planned AED1.2bn loan. Shares of Dubai Investments ended Thursday 2.6 percent higher, with earnings announced after the close of trading.