Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) achieved its fifth dual listing with the market debut on Friday of Gulf Investment House (GIH), a Kuwait-based financial services company.
The dual listing on ADX allows GIH to expand its investor base and liquidity in its shares. The company, which invests in real-estate properties and direct investments, has been listed on the Kuwait Boursa since May 2002 and has a market capitalisation of AED 1.96 billion.
With GIH having subsidiaries and associates covering various economic activities, it gives us flexibility and openness to various economic sectors in Abu Dhabi and benefit from keeping pace with the effective transformation plan in the economic base of the country, which has a firm commitment to building a sustainable, diversified and value-added economy. We were encouraged to be present in a market that reflects a qualitative economy that seeks diversification and capacity building in modern economic sectors.
ADX has experienced a significant uplift in market capitalisation and liquidity over the last year, with a robust IPO and listing pipeline as well as increased participation from international and institutional investors.
This year, ADX has been one of the best performing markets globally and the exchange reached the AED 2 trillion market capitalization target milestone to become the second largest exchange in the Middle East.
Traded values (buy + sell) on the exchange reached AED 422.5 billion in the first half of 2022, up 45% from AED 291.2 billion a year earlier. Trading volumes increased to 68.5 billion shares in the period, from 47.3 billion in the first half of 2021.
The listing of Gulf Investment House on ADX brings the number of dual listings on the exchange to five. Shares of Oooredoo, Sudatel Telecom Group, Oman and Emirates Investment Holding Company and Gulf Finance House also have secondary listings on the exchange. As of 29 September 2022, market capitalisation for dual listed companies on ADX stood at AED 29 billion, up from AED 23 billion a year earlier. Total trading in the securities nearly quadrupled year on year to AED 118 million in the first nine months of 2022.
Also published on Medium.
