ABU DHABI 5 April 2017: Dividends suggested by board of directors of 71 companies listed in Abu Dhabi and Dubai financial markets for the fiscal year 2016 have grown substantially to Dh33.83 billion. The dividends have already been approved by some of the general assemblies of the companies.
The per share dividends are reckoned the highest in the Gulf and Middle East, according to an analysis by Emirates News Agency, Wam.
The considerable hike in the dividend values will provide high free cash flows for investment, rather than for speculations, despite the continued fluctuations in prices, according to the analysis.
As per official statistics, the average annual investment returns for the year 2016 reached around 4.94 per cent, with the returns of the industrial sector’s shares being the highest at 7.14 per cent.
The analysis showed that 92.6 per cent of the dividends have been acquired by four sectors: banking, telecommunications, real estate and investment. The dividends have been announced by 71 companies registered in the Abu Dhabi and Dubai financial markets until 28th March, with the banking sector acquiring the lion’s share thereof. Up to 13 national banks distributed Dh16.84 billion, accounting for 49.7 percent of the total announced distributions.
The telecommunication sector came second with Dh8.5 billion, a 25 percent of the total yields. The real estate sector came third with dividends worth Dh3.53 billion, a 10.4 per cent of the total distributions.
The hospitality and leisure sector’s dividends reached a total of Dh1.4 billion, with the investment and capital sector distributing Dh1.05 billion, with Dh637 million for the transport and logistics sector, Dh563 million for the insurance sector, and Dh525 million for the industrial sector. The remaining amount is shared by the rest of the sectors.
The insurance platform comes on top of the sectors in terms of the number of companies that distributed 2016 dividends to their shareholders, with a total of 16 companies. Up to 13 banks, 10 companies in the industry sector, 5 companies in the investment and financing sector, four companies in the real estate and 3 companies in the transport sector distributed their dividends.
– By Rajive Singh