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Arab World's Top-Performing Stock Joins the $10 Billion Club

Arab World's Top-Performing Stock Joins the $10 Billion Club

(Bloomberg) -- It has risen a whopping 1,650 percent since it started trading six years ago, more than any other company based in the Arab world.

Abu Dhabi-based NMC Health Plc closed at a record on Friday in London, boosting its market value to $10.8 billion. That’s about $200 million less than Emaar Properties PJSC, the developer of the world’s tallest tower in Dubai.

NMC Health is now one of 24 equities in the region with a market cap above $10 billion. Moody’s Investors Service on Monday assigned the company a first-time rating of Ba1, the highest non-investment grade, with a stable outlook.

The medical company started trading as part of the FTSE 100 Index from September last year, a steep climb for a stock that was listed in 2012. The health-care provider sold shares in an initial public offering at 210 pence each compared with 3,688 pence in London on April 20.

It still has a long way to go before unseating the unrivaled king of Middle Eastern stocks: Saudi Basic Industries Corp.

Arab World's Top-Performing Stock Joins the $10 Billion Club

--With assistance from Filipe Pacheco

To contact the reporter on this story: Shaji Mathew in Dubai at shajimathew@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Riad Hamade at rhamade@bloomberg.net, Dana El Baltaji, Claudia Carpenter

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