Emaar Development stock falls 4% after debut

Emaar Development shares debuted on Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on Wednesday, with the stock slumping nearly 4 percent soon after trading started.

The shares fell to AED 5.8 from its listing price of AED 6.03, within the first half hour.

A unit of Dubai-based Emaar Properties, Emaar Development’s initial public offering (IPO) is the emirate’s first in nearly three years.

Based on the offer price, Emaar Development’s market capitalization at listing is nearly AED 24.1 billion ($6.56 billion), with 800 million shares (20 percent of the share capital) on offer.

“Regional markets are witnessing an increase in IPO activity, with Emaar Development IPO being well oversubscribed with strong demand from both international and regional account,” Al Masah Capital said earlier this week.

“This will reflect positively on future IPO’s in the pipeline,” it added.

Meanwhile, parent firm Emaar Properties recovered quickly from early decline of nearly 1 percent to climb 1.3 percent to AED 7.7 in the first half hour. The heavyweight stock has been under pressure since it priced Emaar Development’s IPO at AED 6.03, lower from its earlier indicative range of AED 5.7 and AED 6.9.

The main index was up 0.4 percent in initial hours.

Write to Nadeshda Zareen at nadeshda.zareen@argaamplus.com