Dubai contractor Arabtec reported a widening fourth-quarter net loss on Sunday that it blamed on tough market conditions.

The firm had also reported widening losses in the preceding four quarters that it attributed to increased costs.

Arabtec made a net loss of Dh360 million ($98.02 million) in the three months to December 31, Reuters calculated based on Arabtec's full-year earnings statement.

This compares with a loss of Dh94.4 million in the corresponding period of 2014.

An analyst at Sico Bahrain had forecast Arabtec would make a quarterly net loss of Dh123.6 million.

The company, whose largest shareholder is Abu Dhabi state-owned fund Aabar, has undergone major upheavals over the past two years, with the departure of its chairman and most senior management, while a much-touted $35.8 billion project to build one million homes in Egypt failed to be agreed.

Arabtec's 2015 net loss was Dh2.3 billion ($626 million), which compares with a 2014 profit of Dh215 million, according to a bourse statement that said last year's loss was a "consequence of the continuing difficult environment that the regional construction market is facing".

The company will seek to further cut costs in 2016, it added.  - Reuters