Business Bureau, Gulf Today

Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on Monday announced its financial results for the first half of the year ending 30 June 2020, registering a 21% increase in its net profit to Dhs78.9 million compared to Dhs65.1 million during the corresponding period of 2019. The net profit of the second quarter of 2020 reached Dhs44.2 million, a 20% increase compared to Q2- 2019’s level of Dhs37 million.

The Company recorded a total revenue of Dhs181.1 million in H1-2020 compared to Dhs163.5 million during H1- 2019. The revenue comprised of Dhs115.3 million of operating income and Dhs65.8 million of investment returns. The Company expenses reached Dhs102.2 million compared to Dhs98.4 million recorded during H1-2019.

During the second quarter of 2020, the Company’s revenue reached Dhs92.9 million compared to Dhs85.6 million in the second quarter of 2019, while expenses amounted at Dhs48.7 million compared to Dhs48.6 million during Q2-2019.

Commenting on the key developments and achievements of the first half, Essa Kazim, Chairman of the Dubai Financial Market Company said: “During the first six months of 2020, the DFM’s trading value has exceeded Dhs31 billion, a 25% increase compared to the corresponding period of 2019. The second quarter performance clearly indicates the DFM’s resiliency in containing international markets’ volatility due to the repercussions of unprecedented circumstances triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic with the general index advancing 16%, restoring a considerable percentage of its previous decline. Additionally, the DFM has attracted 1718 new investors during the first half, lifting total number of DFM’s investor base to 845,770 investors. The market also maintained its attractiveness to foreign investors with their market share reached to 49% of trading activity during the first half and to 18.2% of the market capitalization at the end of June 2020. Undoubtedly, the UAE’s pro-active approach dealing with the pandemic’s repercussions has been pivotal in achieving these encouraging performance indicators with various economic sectors benefiting from the numerous stimulus packages rapidly launched by the UAE leadership.”

Essa Kazim added, “Moreover, the global developments associated with the pandemic didn’t deter us from carry on with DFM’s strategic development initiatives. We have launched Dubai Clear and Dubai CSD end of April 2020 as independent companies for post-trade services. Dubai Clear is the region’s first independent company central counterparty (CCP) for equity clearing and Dubai CSD is the UAE’s first independent central securities depository (CSD) company. This launch crowns DFM’s extensive efforts throughout the past two years to enhance market structure and post trade services in line with international best practices, which further strengthen its leadership in driving capital markets development in the UAE and the region. It also represents a significant milestone in strengthening UAE markets’ infrastructure and competitiveness as well as DFM’s commitment to reinforcing its infrastructure and achieving highest levels of business excellence.”  

New CEO appointed: DFM Company also announced on Monday that its Board of Directors has approved during its meeting the appointment of Hassan Al Serkal as the DFM’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with immediate effect.

Al Serkal will lead DFM’s strategic development efforts during the coming period armed with his extensive experiences in capital markets sector being one of the founding team members of the DFM since its inception in the year 2000. He is assuming the new position after serving as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Head of Operations Division of DFM over the past years.

Under his supervision, the Division has successfully implemented numerous strategic initiatives, creating world-class technology and regulatory infrastructure for the market as well as diversifying its product offering and services.

It is noteworthy that the DFM has accomplished the largest technology upgrade through its entire history by migrating to the Nasdaq Financial Framework (NFF) in March. This cutting-edge ecosystem developed by Nasdaq, the leading market technology provider globally, provides the DFM with world class infrastructure for trading, surveillance, clearing and market data dissemination. Dubai Financial Market (DFM) was established as a public institution with its own independent corporate body.