While 2025 was the quietest year for IPOs in the UAE in a while, the dominant capital markets narrative was one of maturity and capital recycling. While the DFM was the big winner in terms of trading value and gains, the ADX was home to several bumper follow-on offerings, giving the index a boost of liquidity.

The shift from IPOs to follow-ons

The era of the assured IPO pop took a backseat, with UAE markets seeing only three IPOs in 2025: Dubai Residential REIT, Alec Holding, and Alpha Data. Instead, major players including Adnoc, Mubadala, and First Abu Dhabi Bank prioritized liquidity and index depth.

By the numbers: Ultimately, state-linked entities raised USD 4.75 bn via follow-on offerings in 9M 2025 — nearly triple the volumes seen in 2024.

This was chalked up largely to an increase in foreign investor appetite, Majed Al Mesmari, head of Middle East and North Africa investment banking at Jefferies Financial Group, is quoted as saying by Bloomberg. Several of the companies that pulled the trigger on follow-on offerings, were later added to MSCI, including Presight and Adnoc Logistics & Services, becoming eligible after raising their freefloat.

It comes with a catch: The pivot to massive secondary sell-downs came with a cost. As Azimut portfolio manager Ahmed Kamal noted, these jumbo transactions acted as liquidity vacuums. Investors were forced to sell down other positions to freeup money for these offerings, creating near-term selling pressure on the broader market.

Dubai

The DFM was the third-best performing market in the GCC in 2025, up 17%, marking its fifth straight year of gains. Though this is well below its 27% gain in 2024, it trumps the ADX’s performance, as the Abu Dhabi index rose 6%, rebounding from a 1.7% decline the year before.

Five of the exchange’s eight sectors finished 2025 higher, led by materials, which surged 29.9%, followed by communication services (+29.5%) and industrials (+28.1%). Consumer discretionary was the laggard, sliding 24%. The DFM’s market cap also rose a solid 14.7% y-o-y, driven largely by the Alec Holding listing.

Trading activity was also strong. Volumes rose 19.8% y-o-y to 60.4 bn shares, while the total value traded jumped 55.3%. Emaar Properties was the most traded stock by value, with AED 46.4 bn changing hands.

On the stock level, Kuwait’s Ekttitab Holding was the biggest gainer in 2025, with its share price soaring 167.2%, followed by Union Properties (+104.1%), while National International Holding posted the steepest drop, down 62.4%.

Abu Dhabi

The ADX was the GCC’s fifth-best performer in 2025. Its market cap rose a more modest 3.7% to AED 3 tn, mainly on broader market gains.

Five of the ten sectors ended the year higher, led by real estate (+15.4%), followed by telecommunications (+12.7%) and financials (+9.2%). On the downside, consumer staples plunged 43.0%, while healthcare fell 23% and consumer discretionary fell 18.4%. Large-cap sectors such as utilities also slipped 3.4%, slightly weighing on overall performance.

At the stock level, Fujairah Cement Industries topped the gainers with a 122.2% surge, while the biggest laggard was Mair Group, down 46.2%. International Holding Company was the most traded stock by value at AED 42.7 bn.

Our take

Dubai seems to be successful at cementing its position as the trader’s market. While Abu Dhabi has the massive market cap (AED 3 tn vs DFM’s AED 1 tn), Dubai has the velocity. The 55% jump in trading value on the index during the year suggests that investors aren’t just parking banknotes; they are actively churning them.

The data also suggests the market is pricing in a massive capex cycle (supported by the Alec Holding IPO and the surge in materials/industrials) while simultaneously pricing in a constrained consumer (evidenced by the 43% collapse in ADX consumer staples).

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