Dana Gas Surges for Ninth Day, Leading Abu Dhabi Stocks Higher

By Claudia Maedler

April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Dana Gas PJSC surged for a ninth day, leading Abu Dhabi shares higher.

Dana soared 8.1 percent, bringing the jump in April to 62 percent. The Sharjah-based company said April 5 it started gas production from the Al Basant discovery in the West Manzala Concession in Egypt. Dana began natural-gas production in Iraq’s Kurdish region in October.

“The company’s Egyptian oil and gas exploration and production activity continues to announce deals,” said Ali Khan, head of cash-equity trading at Dubai-based Arqaam Capital Ltd. “It has cash, no exposure to sub-prime or housing, and pretty much bad news is priced in.”

Abu Dhabi’s benchmark index tumbled 46 percent in the past 12 months, while the measure in neighboring Dubai slumped 70 percent during the period as the region’s housing boom came to a halt. Property prices in Abu Dhabi, down 30 percent since their peak, are forecast to fall a further 10 to 15 percent, EFG- Hermes Holding SAE said in a report last month. Dubai property prices are down 34 percent from their peak last year, EFG said.

Dubai’s Index Drops

Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index increased 0.3 percent to 2,605.56 at 1:27 p.m. in Dubai. The Dubai Financial Market General Index declined 0.4 percent and Kuwait’s measure lost less than 0.1 percent.

Dana climbed to 0.94 dirhams, heading for its highest close since Nov. 6. The shares have yet to close lower in April. Crude oil has gained 2.8 percent this month and traded at $51.05 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange today, up 58 percent from a December low.

Oman’s Muscat Securities Market 30 Index rose 1.8 percent and the Bahrain All Share Index added 0.6 percent, while Qatar’s Doha Securities Market Index lost 1 percent. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index gained 0.4 percent.

Bank Albilad dropped for the first time this week, losing 2.8 percent to 24.6 riyals. The Riyadh-based bank said first- quarter profit declined 56 percent to 22.4 million riyals ($6 million).

To contact the reporter on this story: Claudia Maedler in Dubai on cmaedler@bloomberg.net