Profit fears hurt Arabtec

Arabtec shares fell 1.5 per cent to Dh2.59 yesterday. Silvia Razgova / The National

Arabtec Holding declined for a third day, bringing its total losses to more than 6 per cent so far this week.

The slide comes amid investor worries the country's biggest publicly listed contractor will report lower profits in the third quarter.

Arabtec's shares fell 1.5 per cent, bringing its total losses to 6.1 per cent since September 18, to close at Dh2.59 yesterday in Dubai. They fell as much as 3 per cent during the trading session.

"Investors were concerned over a recent verbal announcement by a senior executive last week, although his comments were not disclosed in a regulatory filing to the exchange," said Wadah Al Taha, the chief investment officer at Al Zarooni Group in Abu Dhabi.

"It has created some confusion and worries among retail investors."

Ziad Makhzoumi, the chief financial officer at Arabtec, last week told Reuters the reason for its second-quarter loss was project delays.

Arabtec has gained 71.04 per cent so far this year as Aabar built up a 21.6 per cent stake in the company. National Bank of Kuwait's equity analyst expects Arabtec to report a quarterly profit of Dh15 million, down from Dh39m in the same period last year, according to Bloomberg News.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index slipped 0.2 per cent to 1,588.14, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index slipped 0.2 per cent to 2,604.77.

Elsewhere in the region: Kuwait's measure gained 0.6 per cent to 5,927.75; Bahrain's index lost 0.5 per cent to 1,079.20; Oman's MSM 30 Index 0.5 per cent to 5,555.54; Qatar's QE Index was little changed, up 0.06 per cent, to 8,573.61. The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index rose 1 per cent to 6,960.65.