AMAN to be listed on Dubai Financial Market

Published July 12th, 2004 - 03:00 GMT

Dubai Islamic Insurance and Reinsurance Company (AMAN) Sunday announced that it would be formally listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on Monday July 19, 2004, when trading in the stock under the AMAN name will officially begin.

The authorisation for the listing followed the decision of Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (ESCA) to recognise AMAN as the first second tier company to come to one of the country’s exchanges. Mr Hussain Al Meeza, Managing Director of AMAN, said: “We are happy to offer investors this opportunity to trade AMAN’s stock on the DFM. We wanted to see AMAN established as a public security company and everyone to know that its operations are completely transparent.”

AMAN is the first UAE company to benefit from a recent change in the federal law to encourage more stock listings by opening up a second level of entry. The new ruling exempts some companies from having to meet the qualifying requirement of having previously provided two successive years of annual returns. In line with the new rule AMAN will move to a full listing a year after its shares begin trading. Mr Meeza said: “We are grateful to the Ministry of Economics and Trade, ESCA and DFM for developing the local financial market in this way and for their huge support.”

AMAN generated profits during its first year of operations, with the financial statement for last year showing it made Dh111,000, after Dh1.9 billion in expenses was deducted. Mr Meeza said: “What the company accomplished in its first year of operation was a huge achievement. It is rare for an insurer to generate profit in its first year.

“The fact that we were able to move to a listing so quickly before the required legal time interval set by ESCA reflects the company’s special performance. This was achieved through the efforts of the board of director and the employees. Their combined efforts led to a highly profitable rate of return in AMAN’s first year while it was positioning itself as a takaful company new to the market.”

Essa A Kazim, Director General of the DFM, said: “We welcome AMAN to the exchange and hope other companies will follow in its footsteps. Investors will be able to trade the stock as AMAN through all the brokerage firms that belong to DFM.”

The company’s shareholders should register their shareholding or deposit their original certificates at AMAN’s headquarters, which they need to do to trade the stock on the exchange. The shares can be registered during the headquarters opening hours, which are Sunday to Thursday, 9am to 1pm and the holding and ownership details will be stored electronically.

AMAN offered 55 per cent of its stock – at a par value of Dh10 in its October 2002 IPO. The final results exceeded the company’s target of Dh33 million, as 4,510 investors bought into the stock, generating Dh183 million 5.5 times the initial target. Allocation was a uniform 18 per cent.

AMAN relies on producing Islamic insurance services and products to meet growing demand in the UAE for such cover, and has become one of the fastest growing companies in the sector. It has introduced such innovative products as a health insurance that is compatible with Islamic takaful principles. It has also signed agreements and strategic alliances with leading local, regional and international companies to roll out its products. (menareport.com)