Stock markets in the United Arab Emirates fell on Monday, hurt by a host of disappointing corporate earnings, while Saudi traded flat as energy and real estate shares moved sideways.
The Abu Dhabi index declined 0.8% as First Abu Dhabi Bank, the country's largest lender, retreated 1.1% ahead of its board meeting to approve financials. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank fell 1.5% on weak fourth-quarter earnings and a lower annual dividend.
The bank recorded a net profit of 1.05 billion dirhams for the three months to Dec. 31, down from 1.24 billion a year earlier.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank recommended a full-year cash dividend of 0.38 dirham per share compared with 0.46 dirham a year ago.
In Dubai, the index eased 0.5% with top lender Emirates NBD shedding 1.1% as it reported a 15% fall in fourth-quarter net profit, which it blamed on higher impairment charges.
Its net profit for the quarter to Dec. 31 fell to 2.02 billion dirhams ($550 million) from 2.39 billion a year earlier.
Dubai Islamic Bank lost 0.7% and logistic firm Aramex was down 1.4%.
Qatar's index slipped 0.2%, weighed down by a 0.5% fall in Qatar National Bank and lender Masraf Al Rayan down 0.7%.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index traded flat with oil producer Saudi Aramco losing 0.4% and Dar Al Arkan opening up 1.2%.
($1 = 3.6728 UAE dirham)
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely) ((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918067497129;))
