Lower Damac dividend dents trade

DAMAC SHARES WITH NEARLY 3% WEIGHTAGE ON THE INDEX TUMBLED 7%

Lower than expected dividends from Damac Properties, which is nearly 3 per cent weightage on the index, pressured the Dubai market yesterday.

Damac Properties closed 7.05 per cent lower at Dh2.77, and was the fourth most actively traded stock. Traded value stood at Dh10 million out of the total of Dh160 million. The Dubai Financial Market General index closed 0.57 per cent lower at 3,061.97.

Damac earlier said that their shareholders approved a lower dividend compared to the board’s recommendation. The company’s shareholders approved a dividend of 15 fils per share compared with the board’s recommendation of 25 fils.

“Due to concerns of both companies’ management in terms of outlook in real estate, Damac and Emaar have decided to reduce the dividend for 2017 which has adversely impacted their share prices,” Tariq Qaqish, managing director head of asset management with Menacorp said.

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“Damac reduced the dividend and that’s one reason that pushed the stock down. The dividend is holding investors to stay away from Emaar Properties as they were promised to receive higher ratio,” Qaqish said.

Emaar Properties fell 0.5 per cent to Dh5.58 after the company announced to pay the remaining tranche of the special dividend of Dh1 billion.

Dubai Islamic Bank closed 0.5 per cent higher at Dh5.46. Gulf Finance House closed at Dh1.26, down 1.56 per cent. Total traded value jumped to Dh160 million from less than Dh100 million in the previous session.

“The liquidity in the UAE market is shallow and does not give us a true reflection of the actual prices,” Qaqish said.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange general index closed 0.23 per cent higher at 4,693.47. Taqa shares closed more than 14 per cent higher at Dh1.41, while National Bank of Fujairah closed 9.09 per cent lower at Dh2.7. Dana Gas closed 2 per cent lower at Dh0.92. Etisalat closed 0.8 per cent higher at Dh17.4.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index closed 0.95 per cent higher at 8,335.35.

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