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DUBAI / Reuters
Shares of Dubai Islamic Bank outperformed most peers in the region on Tuesday after reporting a low double digit growth in first quarter net profit while market liquidity on those bourses was generally thin.
Long-term institutional investors stayed away in light of heightened geopolitical risk, traders said. Dubai Islamic Bank shares rose 0.9 percent after the lender reported a first quarter net profit attributable to shareholders of 1 billion dirhams ($272.3 million), 14 percent higher than the prior year period.
The bank is the first in the region to report earnings. The bourse on which it trades, however, closed flat with 18 shares declining and eight shares, excluding DIB, advancing. Abu Dhabi’s index edged down 0.2 percent as shares of the recently merged lender First Gulf Bank, which were one of the best performers last week, fell 0.5 percent.
Shares of Abu Dhabi National Energy fell 3.3 percent on profit taking. But trading volume on those shares dropped significantly from the very high levels seen over the last week. TAQA rose 1.7 percent on Monday and shares of the energy company have been volatile since last week, when the government announced it had raised its stake in the company.
In Saudi Arabia, banking shares weighed on the stock index , which fell 0.4 percent. Alawwal Bank fell 0.9 percent.
Shares of Saudi Fisheries dropped 1.4 percent after reporting a first quarter net loss of 9.2 million riyals ($2.45 million), slightly narrower than the net loss of 9.6 million riyals in the prior year period but sales declined 43.7 percent year-on-year.
Separately, the fish farmer said it had secured a 42.8 million riyal loan from the Saudi Industrial Development Fund to complete the construction of fish feed facility. Other agriculture companies, however, were some of the top performers on investor hopes that those producers may also get financial support from the state owned development fund.
National Agriculture Development was the best performing shares on the index, jumping 8.1 percent in unusually heavy trade. Qatar’s index lost 0.7 percent as a little under three-quarters of the traded shares declined. Telecommunications operator Ooredoo was the worst performer, dropping 2.4 percent.