Sorouh and Aldar hot property on the Emirates' bourse

Property stocks surged to a three month high on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi after fourth quarter profit at Aldar Properties beat analyst estimates.

Aldar, the developer behind the Yas Island and Ferrari World, jumped as much as 7.1 per cent at the open to Dh1.06, the highest since Nov 16. Aldar reported a profit of Dh642.5 million, after a loss of 12.7 billion in the year earlier period.

Sorouh Real Estate, which is due to report earnings results tomorrow, jumped 6.4 per cent to Dh1. A consensus of analyst estimates polled by Bloomberg expect the company to report a quarterly profit of Dh108 million. Sorouh posted a loss in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index added 0.4 per cent to 2476.43 points, while the Dubai Financial Market General Index added 1.6 per cent to 1546.80 points.

Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait's measure added 0.6 per cent to 5982.00. Bahrain's index lost 0.2 per cent to 1140.40 points. Oman's MSM 30 Index added 0.3 per cent to 5609.29 points. Qatar's QE Index was little changed at 8694.77 points. The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index added 0.4 per cent to 6831.56 points.

halsayegh@thenational.ae