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DFM Q2 profit doubles on trading income

DUBAI — Dubai Financial Market Co.(DFM) said yesterday its second-quarter profit nearly doubled compared with the first quarter as the value of shares traded on Dubai's bourse surged.

The company said it made Dh185 million ($50.38 million) in profit from operations in the second quarter. It made Dh95 million in the first quarter.

The value of trading nearly doubled to Dh83 billion in the second quarter compared with Dh43 billion in the first quarter, DFM chairman Essa Kazim said in a statement.

First-half net profit reached Dh748 million, DFM said. First-half earnings included profit of Dh468 million from the company's $435 million share sale last November.

The bourse made Dh563 million in the first quarter of this year.

The firm expects to earn as much as Dh1.2 billion this year, helped by new regulations lowering the minimum sale for public offerings, Kazim told Reuters in May.

A new law, to be introduced in the second half, would allow a lower minimum public float of 30 per cent, down from the current 55 per cent, on new offerings, he had said. This is likely to encourage more companies to seek listings, Kazim added.

The main index of Dubai's bourse has risen 9.39 per cent this year. DFM shares, which closed on Thursday at Dh29, have gained 40 per cent this year.