STOCKS NEWS MIDEAST-Qatar's Barwa Real Estate hits 4-yr low on earnings

0750 GMT - Qatar's Barwa Real Estate Co slumps to

a four-year low after the property developer said its

first-quarter profit fell by nearly half.

Barwa is down 4.3 percent at 23.35 riyals, having hit a

four-year intraday low of 22.80 riyals in early trade.

The company made a net profit of 158.5 million riyals

($43.53 million) in the three months to March 31, down from

292.5 million riyals a year ago. It did not give further

information on earnings or the reasons for the drop.

The stock is technically bearish; its drop last month below

the January 2010 low of 26.00 riyals triggered a double top

formed by the 2009 and 2010 peaks, and potentially pointing down

as far as the 2009 low of 16.20 riyals.

Qatar's index falls 0.3 percent to 8,603 points.

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0603 GMT - Abu Dhabi's Aldar Properties and Sorouh

Real Estate fall in early trade after the two

developers post tepid first-quarter earnings.

Aldar falls 3.3 percent and accounts for more than

two-thirds of all shares changing hands. It reported a 68

percent decline in quarterly profit before the market open.

Sorouh also retreats, slipping 1.6 percent. Its

first-quarter profit rose 21.6 percent, but that was largely due

to reversal of contingencies on some completed projects and its

revenue fell by more than a third.

Abu Dhabi's index drops 0.5 percent to 3,263 points,

trimming 2013 gains to 24 percent.

Dubai's benchmark rises 0.4 percent to 2,109

points. It is up 30 percent this year.

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0532 GMT - Shares of Abu Dhabi's top two property developers

could face selling pressure on Tuesday after the pair reported

declining first-quarter revenue.

Aldar Properties said both its quarterly revenue

and net profit fell by more than half, indicating continued

weakness in the UAE capital's property sector.

That was underlined by gloomy numbers from smaller rival

Sorouh Real Estate - the developer's quarterly profit

rose 21.6 percent, but that was largely due to reversal of

contingencies on some completed projects. Its revenue in the

three months to March 31 fell by more than a third.

Aldar's shares are up 17.2 percent this year and Sorouh has

gained 50.4 percent over the same period, with the pair due to

merge in June.

Abu Dhabi's index has stuttered since hitting a 4-1/2

year high on Thursday, with some investors wary of committing

more money to the market following an early-year surge.

($1 = 3.6409 Qatar rials)

(Reporting by Matt Smith; Editing by Praveen Menon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-news-mideast-qatars-barwa-real-estate-hits-080250265.html

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