Dubai Financial Market Q2 Profit Drops 46 Pct

Dubai Financial Market Q2 Profit Drops 46 Pct

Second quarter net profit 14.71 million dirhams; Revenue drops to 64.59 million dirhams

July 29, 2011 10:17 by Reuters

Dubai Financial Market , the Arab world’s only listed bourse, posted a 46-percent-drop in its second-quarter net profit on Thursday as revenues fell and expenses jumped.

DFM reported a quarterly profit of 14.71 million dirhams ($4 million), the company said in an emailed statement, compared with a profit of 27.2 million dirhams for the same period in 2010.

Revenue for the quarter dropped to 64.59 million dirhams from 69.09 million dirhams in the second quarter of 2010. The quarterly revenue included an operating income of 50 million dirhams and investment returns of 14.59 million dirhams.

Expenses reached 49.88 million dirhams compared to 41.87 million dirhams in the prior-year period.

However, traded value for the quarter rose to 11.5 billion dirhams, said the statement, a 5.2 percent increase from 10.9 billion dirhams a year earlier.

Essa Abdul Fattah Kazim, managing director and chief executive of Dubai Financial Market said the trading commissions’ contribution to revenue dropped from 66 percent in the first half to 2010 to 45 percent in the first half of this year.

“The flow of revenues from listing fees, sale of market data and online advertising opportunities on DFM website have helped the company reach a greater balance between trading commissions and other revenue sources,” said Kazim.

DFM’s shares ended 0.9 percent lower before the results were announced, taking their year-to-date losses to 24.5 percent. (Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Jason Benham)