Emaar sparks interest but DFM dips

Gulf markets remained sluggish yesterday despite activity in Dubai’s Emaar Properties after its local property development arm set an indicative price range for its initial public offering, while a couple of blue chips boosted Egypt.

Emaar Development set a range of Dh5.7 to Dh6.9 per share, valuing the company at between Dh22.8 billion and Dh27.6bn.

Proceeds from the IPO, and possibly other funds, are expected to be paid to Emaar Properties shareholders as a special dividend by the end of January.

Fund managers and analysts said the price range appeared reasonable given Dubai’s muted real estate market, but the dividend may have disappointed some investors who had been expecting a premium of 10 to 20 per cent.

The Dubai stock index fell 0.3 per cent as Emaar Properties traded higher for much of the day but dipped into negative territory by the close.

Dubai’s most active stock, Shuaa Capital, jumped 7.4 per cent in its heaviest trade since July. Some traders cited speculative buying before the announcement of third-quarter earnings early next week. In Abu Dhabi, the index dropped 0.45 per cent.

Saudi Arabia’s index edged up 0.1 per cent as real estate company Dar Al Arkan, the most active stock, sank 9.9 per cent. It had risen by 33 per cent since early October.

Saudi Company for Hardware gained 3.1 per cent after posting an 8 per cent rise in quarterly profit on sales up 13 per cent.

But petrochemicals producer Chemanol dropped 3.2 per cent after it reported a third-quarter net loss of 9.9 million riyals.

Al Ahlia Cooperative Insurance sank 3.5 per cent despite swinging to a quarterly profit as gross written premiums grew by 23 per cent.

Qatar’s index edged down 0.3 per cent in very thin trade as eight of the 10 most active stocks fell and only one rose. That solitary gainer was property company Ezdan Holding, adding 1.6 per cent. In Kuwait, the index rose 0.3 per cent and 0.3 per cent in Bahrain, while the index in Oman fell 0.2 per cent.

In Egypt, the index advanced by 0.3 per cent, supported by Global Telecom and real estate developer Talaat Mostafa, up 4.6 per cent and 3.3 per cent respectively.