time to read 3 minutes

DFM’s margins have the rise in value of shares to thankMENA

DFM’s margins have the rise in value of shares to thank

Though last year wasn’t the best year for earnings results across MENA, one company sure can’t complain – the operator of the Dubai Financial Market itself, aka DFM.

DFM reported a 14% growth in their full-year profit, with an attributable net profit of Dh137.9m. This was largely boosted by a huge increase in the value of shares traded on the equity market throughout the year, which rose by 24% to Dh66b.

One of the key things to consider is that the DFM attracted more investors to the market, including 2,350 new international investors. In fact, foreign investors accounted for 50% of the total share trade value, as well as a good chunk of the shareholdings of total company market capitalization on the stock exchange. Guess foreigns do more in Dubai than just holiday on the Palm.

why it matters
The UAE has been trying hard to revamp the regional economy in order to cope with the impacts of the pandemic and the slump in oil prices. Just recently reported that the country's telcos, Etisalat and du, raised the foreign ownership limits of their stocks in order to seek foreign investment. Could more initiatives geared towards attracting foreign investment be coming up?