Large trading volumes returned to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) yesterday as brokers busily completed sell orders for Aabar Investments on the company's final day on the bourse.
As Aabar bought back its stock as part of its plan to delist from the ADX, 430 million shares changed hands yesterday, more than seven times the volume for the rest of the ADX combined. Aabar shares rose 1 per cent to Dh1.95, the price the company's majority shareholder, the International Petroleum Investment Company, had agreed to pay minority shareholders under a plan to take the company private. Aabar shareholders who sold their stakes are to be paid tomorrow.
Brokers believe that shareholders still holding Aabar stock may be able to sell it but will have to unload it in the unregulated, over-the-counter market. "There is no market to control the price. Today Aabar had to buy back shares at Dh1.95 because it was the market price," said Rami Awwad, the operations manager at Al Awael Securities in Abu Dhabi. "Tomorrow they may buy them back at Dh1.50, Dh5 or even nominal value, depending on the share owner and the company."
The ADX General Index closed down 0.1 per cent at 2,526.93. The Dubai Financial Market General Index closed down 1.5 per cent at 1,493.
Arabtec Holding lost 3.43 per cent to close at Dh1.69.
The Kuwaiti and Omani indexes were unchanged at 6,662.30 and 6,351.55, respectively. Bahrain's gauge declined 0.1 per cent to 1,399.74, and Qatar's measure dropped 0.3 per cent to 7,110.55. The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index slipped 0.1 per cent to 6,323.95.
halsayegh@thenational.ae
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
%3Cp%3EFirst%20ODI%20-%20Sunday%2C%20June%204%20%0D%3Cbr%3ESecond%20ODI%20-%20Tuesday%2C%20June%206%20%0D%3Cbr%3EThird%20ODI%20-%20Friday%2C%20June%209%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMatches%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Stadium.%20All%20games%20start%20at%204.30pm%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMuhammad%20Waseem%20(captain)%2C%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20Adithya%20Shetty%2C%20Ali%20Naseer%2C%20Ansh%20Tandon%2C%20Aryansh%20Sharma%2C%20Asif%20Khan%2C%20Basil%20Hameed%2C%20Ethan%20D%E2%80%99Souza%2C%20Fahad%20Nawaz%2C%20Jonathan%20Figy%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Lovepreet%20Singh%2C%20Matiullah%2C%20Mohammed%20Faraazuddin%2C%20Muhammad%20Jawadullah%2C%20Rameez%20Shahzad%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Sanchit%20Sharma%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.