DUBAI // The UAE stock market regulator said today it has cancelled Emaar Properties' 10 per cent share buyback licence after the firm failed to buy shares in time. "The firm bought only 200,000 shares, or 0.003 per cent of its capital," the Securities and Commodities Authority said in a statement on the bourse website. Emaar had applied in September to buy back up to 10 per cent of its shares, which have lost 85 per cent of their value this year. The developer, one of the largest in the Middle East, recently had its credit rating revised from stable to negative by Standard & Poor's amid the property slowdown. Emaar has also said it would review future projects and may retrench staff.
The once-vibrant local property market came to a grinding halt earlier this year as credit to potential homeowners dried up, a consequence of the global economic crisis. business@thenationa.ae With Reuters
