Dilution fears hit Arabtec

Arabtec Holding weighed down the Dubai bourse yesterday as the builder's stock slipped the most in nearly a year as investors show their concern that capital increase plans may dilute the shares.

Arabtec shares took a big hit yesterday. Silvia Razgova / The National

Arabtec Holding weighed down the Dubai bourse yesterday as the builder's stock slipped the most in nearly a year.

It signalled investor concern that Arabtec's capital increase plans may dilute the shares given the conversion price and as full-year profit missed estimates.

Shares of the country's biggest construction company by market value dropped 9.8 per cent, the most since March 8, to Dh2.67 in Dubai.

The stock was the biggest decliner on Dubai's benchmark Dubai Financial Market General Index, which slipped 1 per cent to 1,927. About 2.84 million shares of Arabtec were traded, a quarter of the three-month daily average.

The builder said on Wednesday it planned to raise US$1.74 billion through a rights issue and a convertible bond to fund internal growth, acquisitions and joint ventures. The company, which said it won't pay a dividend for last year to "preserve the net cash position", plans to issue 3.18 billion shares at Dh1.5 each and will sell $450m in convertible bonds. Full-year net income decreased 37 per cent, missing estimates.

"The convertible bond may have a dilutive effect," said Yazan Abdeen, who helps to oversee about $300m as ING Investment Management's Middle East and North Africa fund manager in Dubai. "There is a lot of uncertainty about the conversion price and the future backlog of the company, which can surprise on the upside or the downside."

Arabtec's fundraising comes as the Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments plays a bigger role in the company after last year raising its stake to 21.6 per cent. Four analysts recommend investors hold Arabtec shares, while nine say sell, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Arabtec's profit may more than double this year to Dh286m, according to the mean estimate of 11 analysts on Bloomberg.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index dipped 0.4 per cent to 3,044.89 points.

* Bloomberg News