Shares of ADNOC Distribution, the UAE's largest fuel and convenience retailer listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) are now certified Shariah compliant.

The certification, based on the recent screening assessment made by The Unified Committee of Islamic Banks for Shari’a Screening of Equities - UAE, will enable brokerage arms of Islamic banks to trade ADNOC Distribution shares.

Saeed Mubarak Al Rashdi, ADNOC Distribution’s action CEO, said: "This certification paves the way for existing and new shareholders with a preference for Shariah compliant stocks to invest in ADNOC Distribution generating a broader investor base and contributing to increased liquidity for our shares”.

ADNOC Distribution recently reported strong first half results, including a 4.3 percent year-on-year increase in net profit and a 21 percent y-o-y increase in free cash flow (EBITDA minus capital expenditures).

Its non-fuel retail gross profit increased by 10 percent in H1 2019.

In April 2019, ADNOC Distribution announced a new dividend policy, representing an increase of 63 percent in the annual dividend for 2019 (2.39 billion dirhams) and 75 percent for 2020 (2.57 billion dirhams) compared to 2018.

The company expects to pay an interim dividend of 1.194 billion UAE dirhams ($325.12mln) (half of the 2019 full year dividend) in October of this year, subject to board approval.

(Writing by Seban Scaria; editing by Mily Chakrabarty)

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