Dubai – Mubasher: Cash dividend distributions of the Emirati real state and hospitality companies amounted to around AED 5 billion for 2017.
Real estate and hospitality firms’ dividends accounted for about 14.3% of total distributions of companies listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market (ADX) and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
Total dividends reached around AED 37.3 billion for approximately 74 firms distributed over all sectors, WAM added.
The number of Emirati real estate and hospitality companies which approved distributing cash dividends to shareholders for 2017 hit seven out of 13 USE-listed firms, including 10 companies working in the real estate sector and another three hospitality companies.
The insurance sector came in the first spot in terms of the number of firms that decided to distribute dividends, amounting to 19 firms, followed by the banks sector with 13 lenders, according to WAM.
Meanwhile, the number of investment and financing companies reached seven, in addition to six-listed firms in the services sector. The remaining number is distributed over the other sectors.
Moreover, the banking sector was ranked first in terms of dividend amounts with a value of AED 18 billion for 2017, rising 5.9% as compared with 2016 dividends.
The communications sector came in the second place with a value of AED 8.543 billion, accounting for 23% of total distributions, while the real estate sector's distributions, which grew 2.2% year-on-year, reached AED 3.6 billion in 2017.
