Page 188 - SALIK PR REPORT AUGUST 2024

8/22/24, 10:08 AM The stock lure: IPOs and dividend payouts are magnets for yield-hungry investors in GCC | The National
In June, Adnoc Drilling announced that its dividends will grow by at least 10 per cent per

annum on a dividend-per-share basis until 2028, providing investors guidance on payouts

they will receive in the future if they choose to invest in the company's stock.

Similarly, Adnoc Logistics & Services said it aims to increase dividends by a minimum of
5 per cent every year, while Adnoc Distribution's dividend policy for 2024-2028 sets an

annual dividend of $700 million or a minimum of 75 per cent of net profits, whichever is

higher.

Saudi Aramco expects $124.3 billion worth of dividends to be declared in 2024.

What’s driving interest in Mena stocks

Joy Dabeet, chief marketing officer at neo-broker amana, says the appetite for Mena

stocks has increased over the past two years driven by a mix of the success of some of the

IPO deals, as well as the overall strong performance of the market and high dividend

yields.

Ibrahim Masood, senior vice president of equity portfolio management at Mashreq

Capital, agrees, saying the response to IPOs has been very strong in the UAE and Saudi
Arabia in particular.

Most IPOs in the region are structured in a way that the bulk is subscribed to by

institutional investors and a small tranche, generally about 10 per cent, is allocated to

retail investors, he says, adding that those tranches have been heavily oversubscribed in

aggregate.

Amer Halawi, head of research at Al Ramz Capital, says money has been pouring into the

UAE stock markets and by extension to GCC markets over the past five years.

The proof is the 80 per cent aggregate rise in the ADX and a 50 per cent rise in the DFM

over the past five years.

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