Dubai Financial Market expects two listings this year – report

Dubai Financial Market (DFM) is reportedly expecting two listings this year as market confidence improves.

Hassan Al Serkal, executive vice-president of DFM, told UAE newspaper The National the stock market had met with six or seven companies to discuss potential IPOs but many were hesitant due to current conditions.

Dubai group Emaar said in June it was planning an IPO of its real estate development business, which has sales of Dhs14.4bn in 2016, on the DFM.

The Dubai index is currently the third worst performing in the Gulf region, behind Qatar and Oman with a roughly 4 per cent decline in year-to-date terms.

However, this has not stopped some firms from eyeing IPOs, with local developer Emaar revealing plans to list 30 per cent of its real estate unit in June.

Read: Emaar to list UAE real estate development business in Dubai

Al Serkal said family businesses in particular were waiting for conditions to improve before listing and the DFM was also seeking to encourage companies in tourism, healthcare and aviation to go public.

The DFM is also in talks with two Kuwaiti companies to list their shares in Dubai, he added.