Dubai Financial Market Q4 Net Profit Rises 31%

Dubai Financial Market (DFM), the Gulf’s only listed stock exchange, reported a 31 per cent rise in fourth-quarter net profit on Monday as trading volumes increased.

The firm, which runs securities trading in Dubai, made a net profit of Dhs138.2 million ($37.63 million) in the three months to December 31, up from a net profit of Dhs105.4 million in the year-ago period, Reuters calculated using company figures.

Global Investment House had forecast DFM would fourth-quarter net profit of Dhs120 million.

DFM’s full-year profit rose 167 per cent to Dhs759.3 million, it said in a statement.

Trading commissions are the main source of income for DFM and daily trading activity rose to 639.5 million shares in 2014 from 510.7 million shares in 2013.

DFM’s board has proposed paying a cash dividend of 7 fils per share for 2014, up from 5 fils per share in 2013.

Dubai’s government, which has a majority stake in DFM through holding company Borse Dubai, had been in protracted talks with neighbouring Abu Dhabi about merging the two emirates’ main exchanges.

The planned merger had been shelved for the foreseeable future as terms for the politically sensitive move could not be agreed, sources told Reuters in July