Dubai's Arabtec posted a near four-fold surge in first-quarter profit, benefiting from construction contracts in the UAE where the real estate industry is booming on record oil prices.

Net income in the three months to March 31 rose to Dh231.4 million ($63.02 million), compared with Dh60.1 million in the year-earlier period, the UAE's biggest construction company by market value said in a statement.

It is the company's third consecutive record profit, beating analysts' expectations.

Revenue more than doubled to Dh1.9 billion, it said, without giving details.

"Revenue and profit increased significantly as a result of Arabtec's aggressive geographic expansion strategy and benefiting from business integration and economies of scale," company Chairman Riad Kamal said in the statement.

Analysts' forecasts in a Reuters survey in March ranged from Dh170 million to Dh208.4 million, with the average at Dh185.5 million.

Arabtec expects revenue to soar 75 per cent this year to $2 billion as its Saudi business grows, Kamal told Reuters last week.

Shares of Arabtec ended up 2.9 per cent on Monday, extending this year's gains to almost 70 per cent, compared with a decline in Dubai's main stock index. The stock last traded at Dh16.

The company has won Dh15.5 billion worth of projects so far this year, Kamal said, including a Dh10 billion office and entertainment project in Russia.-Reuters