Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, the United Arab Emirates’ third-largest lender by market value, bought back shares worth 1.15 billion dirhams ($313.1 million) at the end of last week, the bank said in a statement on Sunday.
The trade of 261.87 million shares represented 4.68 percent of the lender’s total share capital and is by far the largest transaction completed by the bank since the regulator gave it permission in January to purchase up to 10 percent of its share capital.
The shares were bought at 4.40 dirhams each, the statement added, equivalent to a 5.6 percent discount to Wednesday’s closing share price. ADCB’s shares hit a 4-1/2 year high on Wednesday; the bank posted a 5 percent increase in first-quarter net profit.
United Arab Emirates stocks, in particular banks, have benefited in recent months from renewed optimism toward the local economy. The Abu Dhabi index was up 24.4 percent in the first four months of this year, while ADCB jumped 52.8 percent in the same period. ($1 = 3.6730 UAE dirhams)
Reuters
