DFM Company posts Dh95.5M profit in first nine months of 2019

Dubai - DFM maintains attractiveness to foreign investors, with net purchases hitting Dh2B

Dubai Financial Market Company on Wednesday announced its financial results for the first nine months of the year ending September 30, registering a net profit of Dh95.5 million, an 8 per cent decrease from Dh103.7 million from the same period of 2018.
Net profit for the third quarter of the year increased 45 per cent to Dh30.4 million, compared to Dh20.9 million in the corresponding period of 2018.
Total revenue reached to Dh241.6 million during the nine months compared to Dh251.9 million during the corresponding period of 2018. The revenue is comprised of Dh133.9 million of operating income and Dh107.7 million of investment returns. Company expenses reached Dh146.1 million by the end of September 2019 compared to Dh148.2 million in the same period of 2018.
During the third quarter, the company's revenue reached Dh78.1 million compared to Dh69.5 million in the third quarter of 2018, while expenses amounted to Dh47.7 million in the same period compared to Dh48.6 million.
It is noteworthy that the total value of trading has decreased 17 per cent to Dh39.5 billion during the first nine months of this year, while it has increased 29.5 per cent in the third quarter to 14.5 billion.
Essa Kazim, chairman of Dubai Financial Market Company, said: "The DFM's performance has considerably improved during the third quarter of 2019 with a 29.5 per cent jump in trading value, which helped to a large extent to contain the slow start of the first half. The DFM General Index up 10 per cent by the end of September while the market capitalisation advanced 6.5 per cent to Dh367 billion. Consequently, we are looking forward to see further momentum considering DFM's world-class infrastructure and lucrative opportunities supported by the national economy's dynamism and good growth."
"During the first nine months of this year, the DFM has maintained its attractiveness to foreign investors, as they have registered net purchases of Dh2 billion. The market also attracted 1,121 new investors, lifting the total number of its investor base to 844,245 investors," Kazim added.
Efforts to further attract foreign investments
On the DFM's efforts to attract further foreign investments, Kazim said: "The DFM has organised its international investors roadshows in New York and London and both achieved significant success. The roadshows have delivered a strong message on international institutions' confidence in the economic climate in Dubai and the UAE as well as their robust appetite towards DFM-listed companies and we are confident that this demand will boost the market activity in the coming period."
Robust presence of foreign and institutional investments
The DFM maintains a strong presence of foreign and institutional investments as institutions' ownership reached 83.4 per cent of the market capitalisation at the end of September 2019 with 54.5 per cent share of trading. Similarly, foreign investors are upholding their active participation with 47.6 per cent of trading and 17.3 per cent ownership of the market capitalisation at the end of the third quarter of 2019.
Expansion in DFM's smart services
"As part of its efforts to provide various market participants with smart and digital solutions, the DFM has launched 'myAccount' service during the third quarter of this year. The new electronic account enables investors to seamlessly transfer dividends amounts to their iVestor Card accounts, bank accounts as well as to pay for IPOs and right issues subscription," Kazim said.
Leading corporate governance and sustainability initiatives
Additionally, the DFM's unceasing efforts to promote best practices of environmental, social and governance and sustainability within the financial markets sector have accelerated with the launch of its Sustainability Strategic Plan 2025.
"The plan aims to underpin DFM's successes in this field by creating long-term shared values for DFM stakeholders and ultimately positioning it as theregion's leading sustainable financial market by 2025. The strategy's four pillars are sustainability reporting and disclosures; sustainable investment education; green products and listings; and gender balance and empowering people. Moreover, the DFM is actively collaborating with various institutions to instill sustainability and governance, in line with UAE Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and Dubai's Strategic Plan 2021, hence the DFM and the Dubai International Financial Centre have jointly launched the 'Dubai Sustainable Finance Working Group' in cooperation other 10 founding members," Kazim concluded.
- business@khaleejtimes.com