UAE Markets: Weekly Summary

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Good Morning, ☀️

Dubai's property market slows down, NBF reports a 113% net profit increase, Ghitha Holding sees an 87% drop, Dubai initiates a financing program for retirees, ADNOC and OMV near a joint venture with AED 73.5b turnover, and Danube Properties begins its AED 3b Bayz101 project.

Let’s dive in.

Markets 📈 

Money Brief 💰

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

Markets:

• Dubai’s property boom shows signs of fizzling out (RTR)

• Dubai sees rising appetite from Chinese asset managers (RTR)

• First Abu Dhabi Bank forecasts 2024 oil prices to average at $80 per barrel (ZWY)

• Mubadala, an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, plans to double its Asian investments from 12% to 25% of its AED 1.1 trillion assets (BBG)

IPOs:

• Cerebras Systems, an AI hardware developer backed by Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, is considering a 2024 IPO (BBG)

Earnings:

• National Bank of Fujairah achieved a 113% increase in 2023 net profit to AED 725.1m and proposed a 15% profit distribution, including 10% cash and 5% bonus shares (ADX)

• EasyLease 2023 profit declined to AED 31m from AED 44.1m in 2022, despite revenue increasing to AED 298.5 million (ADX)

• Emirates NBD reported a 3% increase in 4Q23 profit to AED 4b and proposed a 100 fils 2023 dividend and 20 fils special anniversary dividend (DFM)

• Emirates Islamic Bank's 2023 net profit rose to AED 2.12b from AED 1.24b, with total operating income increasing to AED 4.77b (DFM)

• Sukoon Insurance's 2023 net profit marginally decreased to AED 257.4m, but net investment income improved to AED 189.75m (DFM)

• Sukoon Takaful reported a widened 2023 net loss of AED 76.5m and an EPS of AED -0.497 (DFM)

• Dubai Islamic Bank recorded a 2023 profit of AED 6.8b, up from AED 5.5b in 2022, and proposed a 45 fils per share dividend (DFM)

• Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank posted a 2023 profit of AED 5b, up from AED 3.6b, with a proposed dividend of 71.46 fils per share (ADX)

• Deyaar Development's 2023 profit surged to AED 440.7m with revenues reaching AED 1.25b (DFM)

• Apex Investment's 2023 turned to a loss of AED 58.4m from a profit in 2022 (ADX)

• Ghitha Holding reported an 87% decline in net profit from AED 332.5 million in 2022 to AED 43.19 million in 2023, with a 91% decrease in earnings per share over the same period (ADX)

  • Earnings we’re watching this week:

    • Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank

    • Mashreqbank

    • RAKBANK

    • RAKInsurance

    • Borouge

    • Dubai Financial

    • QHolding

    • Tecom

    • Commercial Bank of Dubai

    • Abu Dhabi National Hotels

M&A / Investments:

• ADNOC boosts decarbonization investments to AED 84.5b (RTR)

• Dubai initiates a program offering finance and consultation support for Emirati retirees and soon-to-retire employees starting businesses (MOA)

• Response Plus Medical, UAE's leading pre-hospital medical service provider, acquired UK's Prometheus Medical for an undisclosed amount (GBN)

• Amantra FM, a Dubai facilities management firm, acquired Al Manqab Technical Services, specializing in firefighting and safety solutions (ZWY)

• Summit Group, a Guernsey fiduciary and administrative service provider, acquired Dubai's Sanctuary with support from Sovereign Capital Partners (BWE)

• GreenDome Holdings acquires UAE's temperature-controlled logistics firm LogX in a multi-million dollar deal (ZWY)

VC:

• DXwand, a UAE-based conversational AI startup, raised an AED 14.7m Series A led by Shorooq Partners and Algebra Ventures (TC)

• Crysp Farms, a Dubai-based decentralized vertical farming company, raised AED 8.26m in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Gate Capital (ZWY)

• Cypher Capital, a crypto investment firm based in the UAE, co-lead AED 8.8m investment in bitsCrunch, supporting the development of an open-source platform for forensics in digital assets (INA)

• Traidy, a Dubai-based stock market platform developer, secured AED 7.35m in a pre-seed round led by Three Sigma Ventures and angel investors (YHF)

Partnerships / Projects:

• ADNOC and Austria's OMV near finalizing terms for a joint chemicals group with over AED 73.5b in combined annual sales (RTR)

• Alpha MBM Group, a private investment firm for Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, chosen by Uganda to develop an AED 14.7b oil refinery (OAG)

• Dewa commissioned 14 transmission substations for AED 1.5b (DEW)

• UAE's Defence Ministry inked deals worth over AED 1.9b on the second day of the Umex Simtex 2024 conference (WAM) 

• Maqta Gateway, part of Abu Dhabi Ports Group, Abu Dhabi’s Technology Innovation Institute, and ASPIRE inked a Proof-of-Concept agreement for autonomous drone technologies (TII)

• Gulf Navigation, a shipping and maritime services company, partnered with Wings Logistics Hub to offer drone services to shipping agencies (GNV)

• MBME Pay and Aafaq Islamic Finance team up for digitization services (ADX)

• National Marine Dredging Company secured an AED 208.82m contract from ADNOC for the DAS Island Reclamation Project (ADX)

• TAQA to sell its Atrush oil field stake in Kurdistan to Canada’s ShaMaran Petroleum, exiting the region amidst ongoing oil export halt (ADX)

• Mastercard and Abu Dhabi Global Market partnered to support SME growth in Abu Dhabi (ZCK)

Debt:

• International Financial Advisors approved a 60% cash capital increase to settle a creditor's debt without issuing new shares (DFM)

Crypto / FX: 

• Abu Dhabi’s Department of Health signed an MoU with Abu Dhabi Health Data Services and biopharmaceutical company, MSD GCC, to experiment with blockchain technology in healthcare using the PharmaLedger platform (DOH)

Real Estate: 

• Danube Properties to start construction of the AED 3b Bayz101 in Business Bay, Dubai, in Q2 2024 (ZWY)

• Aldar Properties introduced Sama Yas, a new residential project on Yas Island featuring 234 units, with sales starting February 2 and completion expected in Q3 2027 (ADX)

• Binghatti Properties reported 50% of its Mercedes-Benz Places residences in Downtown Dubai sold within a day of launch (TNN)

• AMIS, a new property developer in Dubai, unveils the AED 425m Woodland Residences project (ZWY)

• Kleindienst Group's Heart of Europe project in Dubai partners with IHG for the voco-branded Côte d’Azur Monaco hotel (ZWY)

• Modon Properties launches Bab Al Nojoum Hudayriyat Villas, a luxury waterfront resort on Hudayriyat Island, Abu Dhabi, with 31 villas (ZWY)

• Nabni Developments announces Avenue Residence 6 in Al Furjan, Dubai, a 12-story building with 96 boutique residences, targeting completion by Q3 2025 (ZWY)

• Sheikh Mohammed al-Makotum, ruler of Dubai, plans an eighth house on his UK Highland estate for family and friends (DLM)

• Dubai Land Department abolishes the AED 1m minimum down payment for golden visa eligibility via real estate investment (TNN)

People:

• Deutsche Bank reinstated Jamal Al Kishi as CEO for the Middle East and Africa, and repositioned Kees Hoving as chief country officer for the UAE (BBG)

• Honeywell appointed Khaled Hashem as President of its consolidated Middle East and Africa region, headquartered in Dubai (MBS)

• Hub71, an Abu Dhabi-based business accelerator, named Ahmad Ali Alwan as chief executive (H71)

• Lord Energy oil trader Hazim Nada filed an AED 10.3b lawsuit against the UAE for damages, alleging a smear campaign by Swiss firm Alp Services led to his company's bankruptcy in April 2019 (BBG)

Money Souk’s Picks:

• Bloomberg News interviews Indian-born financier Rajeev Misra, known for managing Middle East billions at SoftBank, now staging a comeback in the UAE with a new credit-focused fund

Meme Freshener

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.