Profit predictions for Abu Dhabi's Aldar lift shares

Market Wrap: Aldar Properties, the most actively traded stock on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, has been a steady riser this week as retail investors speculate that the developer's first quarter results will beat expectations.

Abu Dhabi's biggest property developer was a bright spot on the capital's bourse as investors traded on speculation that first quarter results would outperform expectations.

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Aldar Properties added as much as 3.2 per cent to Dh1.63 a share during the second half of the trading session before investors booked profits, bringing down the share price to Dh1.59 a share.

"Liquidity inflow has increased on Aldar's shares in the past few days as retail investors are making a bet that profits from the infrastructure sale will be realised in the first quarter," said Hassan El Salah, head of institutional equities at Al Ramz Securities.

Aldar agreed to sell assets including a Ferrari theme park and convertible bonds to the government to Dh19.2 billion to reduce debt in January. The developer, which reported a net loss of Dh12.7 billion for the year, will have "much better" results in 2011, its chief executive Sami Asad said April 17.

The country's main indices were mixed on lukewarm trading as investors kept cash on reserve ahead of a possible upgrade of the UAE to emerging markets status. The UAE is currently considered a frontier market.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index was up 0.3 per cent to 2699.88 points, while the Dubai Financial Market General Index slipped 0.7 per cent to 1618.23 points.

"The mood feels like summer trading, the only exciting thing to watch for is the MSCI" said Fadi al Said, a senior fund manager at ING Investment Management in Dubai. "On the other hand the market isn't negative, with investors holding their equities and keeping reserve cash on the side assuming anything happens."

The Middle East and North Africa head at MSCI,Manuel Rensink, told reporters at a conference in Abu Dhabi yesterday the process of being upgraded was moving at a "positive" pace.

Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait's measure was unchanged at 6499.80. Bahrain's index lost 0.6 per cent to 1396.23. Oman's measure lost 0.3 per cent to 6332.05. Qatar's index lost 0.2 per cent to 8493.12. The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index was down 0.3 per cent to 6672.58.