Hong Kong-listed builder China State Construction International Holdings posted a 34 per cent rise in first-half profit on the back of more contracts in Macau and Dubai.
Net profit for the six months to June increased to HK$115.67 million from HK$86.61 million in the same period last year. Sales grew 6.88 per cent to HK$5.2 billion.
The firm declared a dividend of nine Hong Kong cents per share.
Sales in Macau rose 66 per cent to HK$1.35 billion while sales in Dubai jumped 334 per cent to HK$907 million. Those markets more than offset the 28 per cent decline in Hong Kong sales to HK$2.62 billion.
Increased sales in Macau and Dubai also lifted the company's gross profit margin by 1.2 percentage points to 4.7 per cent in the first half, financial controller Thomas Zhou Hancheng said.
The gross profit margin for contracts in Macau was 6.7 per cent while that in Dubai was 5.3 per cent, compared with 3.8 per cent in Hong Kong, Mr Zhou said.