UAE Markets: Weekly Summary - February 27, 2024

Read time: 3.5 minutes

Good Morning, ☀️

UAE exits money laundering grey list, Fly Dubai's profit soars 75%, FAB predicts 4% GDP growth, Turkey halts AED 31.2b sukuk with UAE, FedEx to open AED 1.28b Dubai hub and ADQ announces AED 128.45b Ras El-Hekmat city project.

Let’s dive in.

Markets 📈 

Money Brief 💰

A roundup of the biggest deals in the UAE this week.

Earnings:

• IHC reported a net profit of AED 32.95B in 2023, marking a 1.2% increase from AED 32.57B in 2022 (ADX)

• Emirates Telecom Group Company (e&) saw its net profit rise to AED 11.14B in 2023, up 5.9% from AED 10.52B in 2022 (ADX)

• Fly Dubai's net profit soared by 75% to AED 2.1B in 2023 compared to the previous year (FLD)

• Dubal Holding reported a stable net profit of AED 1.79B in 2023 (KHT)

• Response Plus’ net profit surged to AED 49.4M in 2023, a 68.6% increase from AED 29.3M in 2022 (ADX)

• Al Mal Capital REIT's net profit climbed to AED 34.5M in 2023, up 73.4% from AED 19.9M in 2022 (DFM)

• Sawaeed Holding turned its fortunes with a net income of AED 6.36M in 2023, reversing from a loss of AED 15.3M in 2022 (ADX)

• Sharjah Islamic Bank shareholders approved to distribute cash dividend of AED 0.1 / share (ADX)

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M&A / Investments:

• ADQ to invest AED 128.45b in Ras El-Hekmat to develop it into a major new city by a private consortium by 2025 (ADQ)

• ADNOC and OMV pause AED 110.2b merger talks over chemicals businesses due to governance and listing disagreements (FT)

• Mubadala, Stone Point Capital, and Clayton, Dubilier & Ross to buy Truist Insurance Holdings in a deal valuing TIH at AED 56.9b (ZWY)

• e& suspends plans to increase stakes in Saudi-listed Mobily due to rising share prices (ZWY)

• Mubadala is set to lead a AED 488.11m investment in India's Avanse Financial Services (EIT)

• Mubadala considers purchasing stake in Heathrow, potentially joining Saudi and Qatar investment authorities as shareholders (BBG)

• Nybl, a UAE-based AI platform, merged with Saudi tech company Basserah (ZWY)

VC:

• The Cloud, a food tech startup based in Abu Dhabi, secured AED 44.04m in Series B funding and acquired UK-based KBOX (ZWY)

• GameCentric raises AED 5.5m from Dubai-based angel investor Bilal Merchant for regional gaming platform (WMD)

• TECOM Group's in5 incubator saw startups raise AED 3b in funding in 2023 (GFB)

Partnerships / Projects:

• Mubadala and Goldman Sachs establish AED 3.67b partnership for investments in Asia Pacific (CNBC)

• FedEx announces new AED 1.28b regional hub at Dubai World Central Airport which will incorporate advanced automation technologies (ARB)

• BP and ADNOC form joint venture in Egypt for natural gas, aiming at production for European supply (BBG)

• Burjeel Holdings from the UAE to open specialized surgery centers in Saudi Arabia by 2025, anticipating revenues up to AED 194.67m (BJH)

• ADNOC progresses in negotiations with Covestro, exploring improved bid for the German chemical maker (BBG)

• Forseven, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's CYVN Holdings, entered into a tech licensing agreement with Nio, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer (NIO) 

• UAE signs Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Kenya to boost food production, mining, technology, and logistics (TEA)

• Moro Hub, a subsidiary of the digital arm of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and Siemens partnered to boost operational technology security and smart city services (MBS)

• Yahsat to offer smartphone to satellite connectivity, the 'direct-2-device' can hook up for voice calls and messaging (GFN)

Fundraising: 

• National International Holding gained CMA approval to buyback or sell company shares at no more than 10% of the total share capital (DFM)

• RAK Properties seeks shareholder approval to boost capital by AED 920m with new share issue to RAK government (ADX)

Debt: 

• First Abu Dhabi Bank issues 5-year debt with initial price guidance at 120 basis points over U.S. Treasuries (RTR)

• Abu Dhabi Islamic Finance signed a medium-term loan agreement of AED 92m with Emirates NBD-Egypt (ZWY)

Crypto / FX: 

• Astra Tech issued over 100,000 Botim multi-currency cards within 4 months through its collaboration with Mastercard (ZWY)

• DKK Partners received initial approval from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority of Dubai to offer virtual asset broker dealer services (FFN)

• GCC Exchange opened a new branch at Fujairah International Airport (ZWY)

• Visa, Checkout.com and Stake to launch a cross-border funding solution in GCC (FFN)

Real Estate: 

• Emaar Properties expands the Oasis project by 108%, increasing the total development value to AED 73b (GFB)

• Nakheel sells all houses in Bay Villas' first two phases within hours, with more than 500 homes on Dubai Islands, prices from AED 4.4m to AED 14.7m (FRT)

• Union Properties in Dubai earned over AED 500m from a land sale, with ongoing evaluations of cash offers for assets worth more than AED 1.2b (DFM)

• A.R.M. Holding launches new property development arm, HUNA, and the projects of The Fold and H Residences in Dubai’s Al Wasl Road neighbourhood (ARB)

• Abu Dhabi's residential transactions surged to 11,235 in 2023, a 77.8% increase (CBR)

Personnel:

• Emirates Airlines is preparing for a leadership transition, promoting two senior executives as potential successors to President Tim Clark (Bloomberg)

• Abu Dhabi Ship Building named Mr. Khaled Al Zaabi as Chairman of the Board of Directors (ADX)

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That’s all for now! 

See you in your inbox with more updates next week 👋🏾

DISCLAIMER: This information is prepared by Money Souk and uses public and reliable sources. Money Souk nor any of its directors, isn't liable for its content or use. It's not intended as investment advice or a solicitation to trade financial products.