UAE’s Union Coop Prepares to List Shares on Dubai Financial Market

UAE’s Union Coop Prepares to List Shares on Dubai Financial Market

The Emirati supermarket chain Union Coop on Friday announced its intention to list shares on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on July 18, as the first retail cooperative in the UAE that takes this pioneering step.

The listing is a part of the Securities and Exchange Higher Commission’s strategy aimed at increasing stock market size in the emirate to AED3 trillion ($816.6 billion), raise competitiveness of bourses and encourage initial public offerings (IPOs).

The Union Coop also announced the suspension of trading on its shares through its portal as of July 1 and that trading will be resumed on July 18 through the DFM.

It said the Union will exercise a share split as per the equation of one to 10, where each Union Coop member will receive 10 shares against each currently-owned share. The share price will be determined on the first day of trading.

The Union Coop maintains a momentous record of operational and financial excellence since 1984, as its net profits recorded a compound annual growth rate of 20.5%, while its sales increased 16.85%.

It registered a 2.6% increase in net profits of Q1 2022 to AED116.5 million ($31.7 million), while net profits of the full year 2021 reached AED413 million ($112.4