ADCB Buys Back Shares Worth $313m

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, the United Arab Emirates’ third-largest lender by market value, bought back shares worth Dhs1.15 billion ($313.1 million) at the end of last week, the bank said in a statement on Sunday.

The trade of 261.87 million shares represented 4.68 per cent of the lender’s total share capital and is by far the largest transaction completed by the bank since the regulator gave it permission in January to purchase up to 10 per cent of its share capital.

The shares were bought at Dhs4.40 each, the statement added, equivalent to a 5.6 per cent discount to Wednesday’s closing share price. ADCB’s shares hit a 4-1/2 year high on Wednesday; the bank posted a five per cent increase in first-quarter net profit.

United Arab Emirates stocks, in particular banks, have benefited in recent months from renewed optimism toward the local economy. The Abu Dhabi index was up 24.4 per cent in the first four months of this year, while ADCB jumped 52.8 per cent in the same period.