The UAE developer Aldar Properties posted a 22% increase year-on-year (YoY) in Q1-2023 net profit to 836 million dirhams ($228 million), and said it expects “robust real estate market dynamics” to sustain through 2023.

The net profit easily topped analysts’ mean estimate of AED747.7 million, according to data compiled by Refinitiv’s Eikon.

Group revenue for the quarter rose 14% on year to AED3.1 billion, the developer said in a statement on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on Wednesday.

Group sales more than doubled to AED 4.5 billion, its highest-ever quarterly sales, driven by strong demand from a growing base of overseas and resident expat buyers in the UAE.

It has a development revenue backlog of AED 18.8 billion “providing revenue visibility over the next 2-3 years,” it added.

Abu Dhabi’s biggest listed developer, which has been on acquisitions drive last year, said it has “significant dry powder for disciplined capital deployment to drive earnings growth, build scale, and enhance diversification.”

The company had AED 6.1 billion of free cash and AED 4.4 billion of committed undrawn facilities. It is “well placed to capture attractive growth opportunities”.