DUBAI: Dubai’s Emaar Properties reported a 55 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit on Tuesday, as the region’s economic recovery brought consumers back to its malls and shopping units, and house buyers returned to the market.

The builder of the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa, reported a profit of 863 million dirhams ($234.96m) in the three months to March 31, compared to 556m dirhams in the prior-year period.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast profit of 873m dirhams. Revenue was 2.26 billion dirhams, up from 2.11bn dirhams a year earlier.