Special Report:
Annual dividends are a key criterion when investing in stocks, and an indication of a strong corporate performance, average cash flow, and financial solvency.
Although the effect of dividends on the performance of the market will be short-term, the company's ability to maintain the rate of profits will support the markets in the medium and long term.
UAE companies topped the list of most companies in the Middle East region distributing cash dividends for 2018, and it is expected that a large part of these distributions will be pumped back into the markets during the coming period, thus enhancing the activity and liquidity of the local financial markets. >
Accordingly, a state of optimism prevailed among the investors in the UAE financial markets with the distribution of profits of some listed companies and the announcement of the results of the first quarter of 2019, as the dividend or high dividends, enhance the opportunities for traders to retain shares, and encourage them to prolong the period of their investment.
The banking sector is in the lead
The financial performance of the markets in 2018 revealed a rise in the value of the returns of the shareholders of UAE listed companies to 39 billion dirhams, and the cash dividends recorded a growth of 22% compared to the distributions of 2017.
The increase in dividends comes in the context of the profit growth of 114 companies during 2018, at a value of 75 billion dirhams, and the banking sector came to the fore in terms of the value of dividends to shareholders by 48.5% from last year.
The first Abu Dhabi Bank occupied the top spot for the largest total value of dividends by about 8.06 billion dirhams, equivalent to 74 fils per share, while the total of Abu Dhabi Commercial distributions amounted to 2.39 billion dirhams, or 46 fils per share, and Dubai Islamic Bank announced On distributions of 2.3 billion dirhams, or 35 fils per share, while Emirates NBD approved distributions of 2.22 billion dirhams, equivalent to 40 fils per share.
In light of the positive surrounding environment, due to the strength of the national economy, Emirati companies succeeded in reaping good and balanced gains despite the challenges faced by the global economy, which confirms the feasibility and attractiveness of investment in various sectors of the country.
Dubai Financial Market
Looking at the Dubai Financial Market, we find that the cash dividends witnessed a slight decrease to 12.32 billion dirhams in 2018, compared to 12.44 billion dirhams during 2017, and the cash return decreased for 25 companies that ...
