Dubai’s plan to embark on a flurry of public share offerings has stirred the benchmark index from its recent slumbers, narrowing the gap with regional peers.
The benchmark DFM Index has rallied more than 14% since the emirate announced at the start of November it was earmarking state-owned companies for IPOs. That’s almost half its entire gain for the year and compares with a 1.1% rise on Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index and a 4.9% advance for Abu Dhabi’s ADX gauge. The DFM rose a further 0.7% on Tuesday.
Dubai said Nov. 2 it’s planning to list some 10 state-owned companies on its stock market as it looks to reverse a decline in trade that’s left it in the shadows of Abu Dhabi and Riyadh. That ambition got a fresh lift on Monday when the chairman of Emirates, the airline that helped transform the city into a global business and tourism hub, said it may also sell shares to the public.
“If Emirates comes with its IPO after reaching the pre-Covid level operating performance, it should attract a lot of international investors to the DFM,” said Joice Mathew, the head of equity research at United Securities in Muscat. It “could be a real boost to the market.”
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