Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

IPOs boost Abu Dhabi’s bourse despite stock sell-off

By Matt Smith
ADX up Adnoc IPOS Reuters/Ben Job
Initial public offerings that sold small stakes in government-owned businesses have swelled the combined value of listed firms on the Abu Dhabi Exchange
  • Adnoc subsidiary listings offset slump in stock trading
  • Abu Dhabi Exchange turnover and volumes fell overall
  • Dubai Financial Market up amid renewed property boom

The market capitalisation of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange rose by $43.7 billion in the first half of 2023.

The listings of two Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) subsidiaries more than offset a sustained decline on the bourse’s index and a slump in stock trading.

Since late 2021, a flurry of initial public offerings (IPO) that sold small stakes in Abu Dhabi government-owned businesses has swelled the combined value of listed firms on the UAE capital’s stock market.

The pace of the UAE’s part-privatisation drive has slowed in 2023 – both in Abu Dhabi and Dubai – as soaring interest rates and global economic wobbles make buying equities less attractive versus the safer alternative of putting cash in interest-paying savings accounts.

Nevertheless, state-owned Adnoc raised AED9.1 billion ($2.5 billion) by selling 5 percent of Adnoc Gas in a March IPO that valued the subsidiary at AED181.9 billion.

As of June 26, the bourse’s most recent trading day, Adnoc Gas was worth AED236.4 billion.

Another unit, Adnoc Logistics and Services, joined the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) on June 1 after completing a $769 million IPO that offloaded 19 percent of its shares.

Its current market value is AED22.6 billion.

These listings, along with the IPO of Abu Dhabi government-backed firm Presight AI, enabled the bourse’s combined market value to reach AED2.78 trillion on June 26, bourse data shows.

That compares with AED2.62 trillion on December 31, 2022; its combined value rose by AED160 billion, or $43.7 billion, in the first six months of this year.

The increase occured despite the bourse’s index dropping 6.5 percent over the same period.

The benchmark is down 10.2 percent since hitting an all-time closing high in mid-November 2022.

ADX stock trading totalled AED171.7 billion in the first half of 2023 as 27.6 billion shares changed hands.

In the prior-year period, 34.3 billion shares worth a combined AED211.3 billion were traded.

As such, bourse turnover and volumes fell 18.7 and 19.5 percent respectively, according to AGBI calculations based on ADX data.

Dubai Financial Market

The Dubai Financial Market General Index, in contrast, is up 13.9 percent this year, hitting an eight-year high in late June as banking and real estate stocks led gains amid a renewed property boom in the emirate.

The bourse’s market capitalisation is currently AED652.1 billion, according to the UAE state-owned news agency WAM.

That is up 12 percent from AED582 billion as of December 31, the DFM’s latest annual report states.

As well as rising stock prices, the bourse’s overall value was also boosted by Al Ansari Financial Services’ AED773 million IPO.

The March flotation, which sold 10 percent of its shares, valued the company at AED7.73 billion. 

Latest articles

Cargo is loaded onto an aeroplane. The Middle East-Europe route accounts for 5% of global traffic

Middle East-Europe is ‘fastest-growing route for air cargo’

The Middle East-Europe route for air cargo was the fastest growing in the world in October, according to International Air Transport Association figures.  Annual growth in cargo tonne-kilometres stood at 15.3 percent in October, IATA said. The global average is 9.8 percent and the Middle East average is 4.5 percent. The Middle East-Europe route has […]

UAE citizens receiving housing aid include the elderly, retirees on lower incomes and widows

Abu Dhabi citizens receive $3.6bn in housing benefits

To coincide with the UAE’s Eid Al Etihad celebrations, thousands of Abu Dhabi citizens have received housing benefit packages worth a total of AED7.72 billion ($2.1 billion). This package, the third awarded this year, brings the total value of housing benefits disbursed to Emiratis during 2024 to AED13.2 billion ($3.6 billion) This week 5,374 Emirati […]

Solar panels near Nanchang, China; Acwa Power wants to acquire clean power assets with a value of up to 20GW

Acwa Power plans to invest $50bn in China by 2030

Saudi energy company Acwa Power plans to invest up to $50 billion in renewable energy projects in China, a senior executive said on Tuesday.  Lyu Yunhe, Acwa Power’s head of China operations, said they aim to work with Chinese state-owned companies to acquire clean power assets with a value of up to 20GW and an additional 1 […]

Turkey inflation rate cut

Rate cut for Turkey in balance as inflation stays high

Despite higher than expected inflation in Turkey in November, the window may remain open for the central bank to cut its key lending rate before the end of this year.  Turkey’s annualised inflation rate fell back to 47.1 percent in November, data issued by the statistics agency Turkstat on December 3 showed, down from October’s […]