Etisalat shares up 1.8% as foreigners start trading

Abu Dhabi - Etisalat shares jumped 21 per cent since the government-controlled company announced three months ago it would allow foreign nationals direct ownership in the firm.

By Staff Report

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Published: Wed 16 Sep 2015, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Wed 16 Sep 2015, 10:03 AM

Etisalat shares rose 1.8 per cent as foreign and institutional investors were allowed to trade its shares directly for the first time on Tuesday.
The telecom firm, which is listed on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange, closed the day at Dh14.50 on more than 20 times higher three-month average trading volume. This drove the benchmark index up by 0.42 per cent at 4,504.61 points against the trend as most stock markets in the region declined.
"The stock will definitely outperform the benchmark," said Sebastien Henin, head of asset management at The National Investor in Abu Dhabi.
Etisalat shares jumped 21 per cent since the government-controlled company announced three months ago it would allow foreign nationals direct ownership in the firm. The government limited foreign ownership of the shares to 20 per cent, but foreign shareholders have not been given the voting rights.
"A lot of foreign investors will look at the name before the potential inclusion in the MSCI benchmark," Henin said.
Stock markets in the six-nation GCC have stepped up efforts to attract foreign investment to their capital markets amid the slump in oil prices, one of the region's biggest sources of income. The move to allow foreign ownership in telecom firm is expected to attract foreign funds into the company, which has operations and subsidiaries in 17 countries.
Stocks in the UAE were included in MSCI's emerging market index last year. The nation's sovereign wealth fund, the Emirates Investment Authority, which owns 60 per cent of etisalat, has said it doesn't plan to reduce its holdings.
Meanwhile, property shares drove the Dubai Financial Market's General Index in positive columns as the main index rose 0.65 per cent at 3,533.95 points. Damac Properties rose 3.53 per cent while Emaar and mortgage lender Amlak Finance climbed 1.13 per cent and 1.51 per cent, respectively.
- haseeb@khaleejtimes.com
> SEE ALSO PAGES 33 & 34


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