By Yousef Jalili, Founder, Jalili Real Estate
When a Dubai developer publishes results, four large numbers appear: sales, revenue, profit and backlog. They are not versions of each other, they do not net off, and the one buyers should care about most is usually the one nobody quotes.
A client asked me a fair question about Emaar’s half-year results this month. The company reported AED 26.6 billion of property sales and AED 23.9 billion of revenue. How, he wanted to know, was almost all of the sales figure profit?
It is not. Revenue is not profit, and neither of those two numbers is measuring the same money as the other. Once you can separate the four, developer results stop being marketing and start being useful — particularly if you are considering buying off-plan from that developer.
The four numbers
Take Emaar Properties’ first half of 2026 as the worked example, because it is recent and the figures are public.
| Number | H1 2026 | What it actually measures |
|---|---|---|
| Property sales (bookings) | AED 26.6bn | Value of contracts signed during the period |
| Revenue | AED 23.9bn (+21%) | Value recognised in the accounts this period |
| Net profit before tax | AED 12.8bn (+23%) | What is left after the costs of producing it |
| Revenue backlog | AED 164.9bn (+13%) | Sold, not yet recognised — the queue |
Property sales, or bookings, is the value of what the sales team signed in those six months. Almost none of that cash has arrived. An off-plan buyer pays a deposit and then instalments tied to construction milestones, so a contract signed in March 2026 delivers money into 2029 and beyond. Bookings tell you about demand today.
Revenue is what accounting rules allow the company to recognise in the period, and for a developer that is driven mainly by construction progress on units sold in earlier years, plus recurring income from malls, hotels and leasing. Emaar’s AED 23.9 billion of H1 revenue is largely the company delivering on promises made in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Revenue tells you about execution.
This is why the two figures are close in size but unrelated in substance. AED 26.6 billion and AED 23.9 billion are not the same money counted twice, and neither contains the other.
Profit is revenue minus the cost of producing it — construction, land, marketing, overheads, finance. Emaar reported AED 12.8 billion before tax, a margin of roughly 54%. That is high by international standards and reflects a specific business: land acquired long ago at low cost, and ownership of assets like The Dubai Mall that earn rent without construction cost attached. It is not a margin a newer developer buying land at 2026 prices can replicate, and a similar margin at a young company should prompt a question rather than confidence.
Backlog is the number that matters to a buyer
The fourth figure gets the least attention and deserves the most, at least if you are buying something that has not been built.
Backlog is work sold but not yet recognised as revenue — contracts signed, largely paid or committed, waiting on construction. Emaar’s AED 164.9 billion, up 13% year on year, is the queue of buildings the company has already been paid to deliver. At its subsidiary Emaar Development, the equivalent figure is AED 135.7 billion, up 6%.
Read it as an obligation rather than an asset and it becomes informative. A large backlog says a developer has committed to a great deal of construction, so its incentive to keep building through a soft market is contractual rather than optional. A backlog growing faster than the delivery record can support says something less comfortable.
The useful comparison is backlog against revenue. Emaar is recognising roughly AED 24 billion a half, against a AED 165 billion queue — a little over three years of work at the current rate. That is a reasonable ratio. A developer with ten years of backlog at its current delivery rate is telling you it has sold much faster than it can build.
What protects the money in the meantime
Off-plan instalments in Dubai do not sit in a developer’s general account. Under Law No. (8) of 2007 concerning escrow accounts for real estate development, any developer selling units off-plan must open a project escrow account with a Land Department-accredited bank, and the money in it is dedicated exclusively to the construction of that specific project. Each project requires its own account, and a retention — usually 5% — is held for a period after handover.
The Land Department, through RERA, registers the developer and the project, accredits the escrow agent and monitors drawdowns against construction progress. This is the structural reason Dubai off-plan behaves differently from off-plan in markets without an escrow regime, and it is worth understanding as a mechanism rather than a slogan. It protects the money against diversion into another project. It does not guarantee a completion date, and it does not guarantee a price.
Five checks before signing an off-plan contract
- Confirm the escrow account is named in the SPA, and that it is specific to your project. Pay into that account and nothing else.
- Check the project is registered with RERA and that the developer is licensed. Both are verifiable through the Land Department’s own channels, in minutes, without asking the seller.
- Look at the delivery record, not the launch record. Launches announce intent. Handovers are the evidence. Ask what the developer completed in the last three years and when it was originally promised.
- Read the backlog against the revenue run rate, using the ratio above. It is a rough measure of whether the pipeline is deliverable.
- Budget the costs outside the price. The Land Department transfer fee is 4% of the purchase price, agency commission is typically 2% plus VAT, and there are fixed registration and title charges. Then the running costs of ownership begin.
If you are weighing a specific launch against this checklist, arrange a consultation.
Why any of this is worth your time
Developer results are published to reassure investors in the listed company, not to inform people buying apartments. But they are the only regular, audited window into whether a developer can do what it has promised you — and, unlike a brochure, they carry consequences if they are wrong.
You do not need to read the full statement. Find the four numbers, keep them separate, and check the backlog against the delivery record. That is a more reliable read on a developer than any rendering.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a developer’s property sales and its revenue?
Property sales, or bookings, is the value of contracts signed during the period, with the cash arriving over years of construction instalments. Revenue is what accounting rules allow the company to recognise now, driven mainly by construction progress on units sold in earlier years plus recurring rental income. They are not the same money, and neither contains the other.
What does revenue backlog mean for a property developer?
Backlog is work that has been sold but not yet recognised as revenue: signed contracts awaiting construction. Emaar Properties reported AED 164.9 billion at H1 2026, up 13% year on year. It is best read as an obligation rather than an asset, and compared against the revenue run rate to judge whether the pipeline is deliverable.
Is off-plan payment protected in Dubai?
Yes, through a mandatory escrow regime. Under Law No. (8) of 2007, a developer selling off-plan must hold buyer payments in a project-specific escrow account at a Dubai Land Department-accredited bank, dedicated exclusively to that project’s construction, with drawdowns monitored against progress by RERA. Escrow protects the money from diversion; it does not guarantee a completion date.
Figures are from Emaar Properties’ and Emaar Development’s published H1 2026 results, and are used here as a worked example rather than as a recommendation regarding any company or security. Escrow provisions are summarised from Law No. (8) of 2007; confirm current requirements and fees with the Dubai Land Department or a licensed advisor before transacting. This article is general information and is not investment, legal or financial advice.