Dubai: Etisalat shares rose on Sunday after the company’s shareholders vetted the dividend recommended by the board.
Etisalat closed 0.12 per cent higher at Dh16.92. Traded value stood at Dh12 million or 20 per cent of the total, making it the most active stock in trade.
Etisalat announced a dividend of 80 fils per share for 2018, maintaining its level compared to the previous year. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange general index closed 0.64 per cent lower at 5,094.83.
The market will truly recover once government incentive policies start to impact the real economy and boost the private businesses.
Subdued activity is continuing in shares of Emaar and its units even after the dividend announcement.
Emaar Properties shares closed 0.43 per cent lower at Dh4.68. Emaar shares are consolidating after a 28 per cent rise seen in most part of February on expectations of a higher dividend. Emaar Properties finally decided to give a dividend of 15 per cent, which was almost equal to that of last year.
Emaar Malls and Emaar Development also continued to move sideways. Emaar Malls closed 1.12 per cent lower at Dh1.76. Emaar Development closed more than 1 per cent lower at Dh3.88. Emaar Malls announced a cash dividend of 10 per cent or Dh1.3 billion. Emaar Development also announced a cash dividend of 26 per cent or Dh1.04 billion. Emaar companies will hold its annual general meeting on April 23.
The Dubai Financial Market general index closed 0.39 per cent lower at 2,618.50. “Today’s drop is attributed to the unbiased sell-off in emerging equity markets due to weakness in other emerging countries’ currencies. We don’t see this will continue as the UAE dirhams similar to other GCC countries is pegged to the dollar,” Tariq Qaqish, Managing Director — Asset Management at MENACorp, told Gulf News.
For now, the focus continues to be on dividend yielding stocks. “Attractive dividend yields for major UAE companies will serve as a short term catalyst, however we believe the market will truly recover once government incentive policies start to impact the real economy and boost the private businesses, which will bring in more confidence,” Qaqish said.
Gulf Finance House closed 0.31 per cent higher at Dh0.980. Dubai Islamic Bank closed 1 per cent lower at Dh4.82. Union Properties closed flat at Dh0.350.
First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) closed 0.92 per cent lower at Dh15.04.
First Abu Dhabi Bank has seen a remarkable run despite the stock going ex-dividend. FAB shares have gained 12.5 per cent in the past six sessions.
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank ended 1.12 per cent lower at Dh4.40. “This week could see attention be directed towards disclosure from Emirates NBD regarding the valuation of NI and towards other news stemming from Damac Properties regarding its dividend for 2018,” according to Issam Kassabieh, Senior Financial Analyst at Menacorp.
