Dubai’s Bourse Reform Gives Edge to Bellwether Developer Emaar

(Bloomberg) --

Dubai’s bellwether property developer is shaping up to be a beneficiary of a series of reforms of the city’s bourse.

Emaar Properties PJSC shares have soared nearly 20% over the past week, with the highest volume traded in more than a decade, after Dubai unveiled a series of moves to boost liquidity on its stock exchange.

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The real estate firm’s market capitalization has now caught up with rival Aldar Properties PJSC in Abu Dhabi, with the two companies vying for the position of the United Arab Emirates’ most valuable developer. Both firms are now d at about 34 billion dirhams ($9.2 billion).

But while Emaar’s comeback indicates that Dubai’s efforts to bolster its flagging bourse are paying off, the stock is still down about 50% from a 2017 high. Slumping real-estate prices and dwindling liquidity on the exchange had weighed on Emaar’s shares for years.

Things have started to look up recently: average home prices have risen at the fastest pace since 2015 and transaction volumes surged 77% in August on an annual basis. Emaar had said in June that it expects Ebitda for 2021 to be higher than 2020, but lower than that achieved in 2019 and 2018.

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