Drake & Scull shares boosted by contract in Iraq

Investors buy shares in Drake & Scull International, Dubai's second-biggest contractor, after its subsidiary won a contract worth Dh86 million in Iraq.

Shares of Drake & Scull, Dubai's second-biggest contractor, rose 0.2 per cent yesterday to close at to Dh1.28. Charles Crowell / Bloomberg News

Investors bought up shares in Drake & Scull International (DSI), Dubai's second-biggest contractor, after its subsidiary won a contract worth Dh86 million in Iraq.

DSI's Passavant Roediger was hired as a "turnkey contractor for a waste water treatment plant in Kerbala", it said in a statement posted to the Dubai bourse yesterday.

Drake & Scull's shares rose 0.2 per cent to Dh1.28. The shares have gained 9.93 per cent so far this year. The Dubai Financial Market General Index gained 0.5 per cent to 1,578.79.

"Drake & Scull is a solid company, they have cash and projects in the pipeline," said Nabil Al Rantisi, the managing director of brokerage at Menacorp in Abu Dhabi. "Speculators and traders prefer it to its rival Arabtec," he said.

Arabtec's shares have risen more than 66 per cent this year as Aabar Investments, an Abu Dhabi state-controlled fund, built up a 21.6 per cent stake in the contractor.

"The float of shares on Arabtec has gone down ever since, the liquidity has dried down," he added. "People prefer DSI because when they exit at least they know they will find buyers."

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange was little changed, 0.09 per cent higher, to 2,605.41.

Elsewhere in the region: Kuwait's measure slipped 0.1 per cent to 5,982.69; Bahrain's index added 0.3 per cent to 1,087.33; Oman's MSM 30 Index was little changed, up 0.09 per cent, to 5,534.38; Qatar's QE Index added 0.1 per cent to 8,510.21. The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index rose 0.47 per cent to 6,839.83.