Page 94 - AAE PR REPORT - August 2024

8/22/24, 1:14 PM The stock lure: IPOs and dividend payouts are magnets for yield-hungry investors in GCC | The National
The stock lure: IPOs and dividend payouts are magnets for yield-hungry investors in GCC

Most recent issuances have been heavily oversubscribed, indicating strong demand from local and regional
investors, experts say

Deepthi Nair
17 August, 2024

Wali Khan, a UAE-based Pakistani telecoms engineer, has been investing in Emirates'

stock markets for the past four years.

Mr Khan is one among a growing wave of new investors who have flocked to the Dubai
Financial Market (DFM) and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) – the two main

stock markets in the UAE – over the past few years.

The robust momentum of the initial public offerings, attractive valuations as well as the

visibility on healthy dividend payouts from listed companies are among some of the

reasons that have helped in expanding the investor base in the Arab world's second-largest

economy.

The DFM, home to the largest capitalised property developer Emaar Properties and

Dubai's biggest bank Emirates NBD, attracted 72,583 new investors in the first six months

of 2024. Trading activity rose significantly along with trade values of stocks on the bourse

amid continued economic momentum in the emirate.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the second-largest Arab stock market by market
value, welcomed 50,000 new investors last year. Trading volume climbed 37 per cent

year-on-year while the foreign ownership of ADX-listed companies rose by 35 per cent on
an annual basis, according to the latest ADX data.

The continuing momentum of listings in the UAE perhaps is the biggest lure for investors

in recent quarters. Companies raised $890 million through IPOs in the second quarter of

this year alone, according to PwC's quarterly IPO Watch report.

https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/money/2024/08/20/the-stock-lure-ipos-and-dividend-payouts-are-magnets-for-yield-hungry-investors-in-gcc/ 1/9