DAMAC to list on DFM on January 12

Dubai: The Dubai Financial Market said on Saturday that property developer Damac will list on January 12, marking the first listing in 2015.

In a message sent out to brokers, DFM said “listing of DAMAC on the DFM on January 12.”

Damac had been offering to convert Damac Real Estate Development Limited (DRED) London-listed Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) for shares on Dubai’s main bourse. Investors were offered nearly 23.08 shares per GDR. In December, the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) approved Damac Properties’ application for its registration and subsequent listing on the securities market.

“The listing is positive for the long term, but market is still witnessing volatility even though the short term is stable. Stability would take some more time,” said Musa Haddad, equity fund manager at National Bank of Abu Dhabi’s asset management group.

Damac reported a 65 per cent jump in net profit to $687.2 million (Dh2.52 billion) in the nine months to September, on revenues of $1.5 billion.

The market has been witnessing bouts of massive volatility due to crude oil, which has shed more than 50 per cent of its value since June last year. This has seen atleast 5-6 companies delay their IPO plans.

“There are some IPOs — they saw the market and postponed their launch as this is not the right time for them. We can’t force them and we can’t stop them, but sometimes we can ask them, ‘Is this the right time?,” Abdullah Salim Al-Turifi, chief executive of SCA said on January 7.

Currently, there are 124 companies from different sectors listed on the UAE financial markets, including 110 local companies and 14 foreign companies.