Stock News: Emaar Properties Lifts Dubai On Fresh IPO Plans

Emaar Properties, Dubai’s largest listed developer, lifted the emirate’s bourse on Tuesday after announcing plans to float its Egyptian unit next year following the successful listing of its malls and retail business.

Shares in Emaar, the market’s second most heavily traded stock on Tuesday, jumped 3.1 per cent to Dhs11.50 and were the main support for Dubai’s index, which added 0.6 per cent.

Mohamed Alabbar, Emaar’s chairman, said last Thursday that the company’s Egyptian unit, Emaar Misr, would go public around June 2015 and had a value of Dhs3-4 billion ($817 million-$1.09 billion).

Alabbar also said the company could float its hotels business, but the board had yet to decide whether to go ahead with that.

Last month, Emaar floated its malls and retail unit in a $1.6 billion offer that attracted huge investor demand. Shares in Emaar Malls Group, which surged 12.1 per cent on their stock market debut last Thursday, added a further 0.9 per cent on Tuesday. Emaar Malls was the day’s most heavily traded stock.

Emaar plans to use funds from the completed IPO to pay out a Dhs9 billion dividend and its board will discuss the matter on Oct. 9.

Egypt’s Naeem Brokerage raised its target price for Emaar to Dhs14.61 from Dhs11.96 with a “buy” recommendation, saying the unit spin-offs would help the company unlock value.

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi’s index inched up 0.1 per cent in low-volume trading on the back of blue chips Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, which were up 0.5 and 0.3 per cent respectively.

Outside the United Arab Emirates, major markets in the Middle East remained closed on Tuesday as the region celebrated the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Stock exchanges in Bahrain and Egypt will reopen on Wednesday while bourses in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman will resume trading on Oct. 12.

TUESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS

DUBAI

* The index rose 0.6 per cent to 4,986 points.

ABU DHABI

* The index edged up 0.1 per cent to 5,117 points.