DUBAI, (Reuters) – Dubai Investments Co, the UAE’s largest diversified holdings firm by market value, expects 2007 profit to grow by up to 40 percent, its chief executive said in comments published on Thursday.

Khalid bin Kalban’s 2007 profit forecast in Arabic daily newspaper al-Ittihad would indicate an up to 30.2 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit to about 320 million dirhams, beating an analyst’s expectations.

“In 2007 … the growth in profits would not be less than 35 percent and might be up to 40 percent compared with the year before,” bin Kalban said, according to al-Ittihad.

The company, whose third-quarter profit grew on higher building material and property unit sales, plans to invest up to 2 billion dirhams in Abu Dhabi, where it wants to expand with two partners, bin Kalban said, according to the paper.

The firm, which operates mainly in Dubai, wants to develop industrial zones in the UAE capital and is considering buying land, Kalban said, without giving a timeframe for the investments.

Shares of Dubai Investments rose more than 1 percent in early trading after the report. They were up 0.91 percent at 0637 GMT.

Dubai Investments, which operates about 35 subsidiaries, made 989.47 million dirhams in 2006, indicating it could post profit of 1.39 billion dirhams in 2007.

The quarterly profit would beat the 140 million dirham forecast of EFG-Hermes in a Reuters survey last month.

Dubai Investments made 245.81 million dirhams in the fourth quarter of 2006 and 1.07 billion in the first nine months of this year.