Dubai Financial Market Q2 Profit Drops 31%

Dubai Financial Market, the Gulf Arab region’s only listed bourse, posted a 31-per cent decline in second-quarter profit on Sunday as income during the period dropped.

DFM made a net profit of Dhs10.2 million ($2.8 million) compared to Dhs14.7 million in the same period in 2011, the company said in a statement on the Dubai bourse.

The earnings however, beat an estimate by HSBC Bank, which expected a quarterly profit of Dhs4 million.

DFM’s total second-quarter revenue dropped to Dhs51.8 million from Dhs65.9 million in the prior-year period, according to the company’s balance sheet. Revenue from ownership transfer and mortgage fees dropped to Dhs1.1 million from Dhs16.3 million in the year-ago period.

DFM Group, which includes Nasdaq Dubai, said in a statement that its trading value increased 4.7 per cent during the quarter to Dhs11.8 billion compared to Dhs11.3 billion in the same period of 2011.

Shares of the firm are up 17 per cent in the first half of this year after a 44-per cent drop in 2011.

Trading volumes on the bourse were down to 691 million shares in the second quarter compared to 769 million in the year-ago period, Reuters data showed.