DFM profit up on higher trading

Dubai Financial Market (DFM), the Gulf Arab region's only listed bourse, posted a sharp rise in quarterly profits thanks to increased trading on the exchange, it said on Monday.

The firm, which includes Nasdaq Dubai, made a first quarter net profit of Dh30.5 million ($8.3 million) in the quarter ended March 31, up from Dh2.2 million in the prior-year period.

Total revenue rose 42 per cent to Dh69.1 million from Dh48.7 million last year.

A positive macroeconomic environment helped to spur trading activity on the exchange, Abdul Jalil Yousef Darwish, chairman of DFM, said.

"This was mirrored on the DFM listed companies' performance which invigorated investor sentiment by disclosing good financial results and rewarding cash dividends, which eventually reflected positively on the revenue and profit of the DFM company," he said.

Trading volumes jumped in the quarter to 15 billion shares, up from 7.1 billion shares in the year-earlier period, with retail investors driving the momentum.

The DFM index gained 22 per cent in the first quarter, rebounding from a seven-and-half-year low on January 17 as investors fished from the bottom.

Confidence in the market was helped by signs of stability in global markets that were hit by worries of a double-dip recession and the euro zone's debt crisis in 2011. Increased risk appetite brought back money to the market.

Shares in the firm gained 1.9 per cent to Dh1.09 per share on Monday, ahead of the results announcement. The stock is up 27.4 per cent year-to-date.

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