Deyaar Development’s Chief Executive Officer said the company’s early public listing in 2007 demonstrated the long-term benefits of transparency and governance for Dubai’s property sector, as the city sees renewed momentum in IPOs and real estate investment trusts.
“When you are a public listed company, you must adapt to a different culture, with a lot of governance and processes that ensure decisions are made carefully,” Saeed Mohammed Al Qatami said in an interview with Arabian Business. “It is very healthy for organisations and for the market.”
Deyaar, which listed on the Dubai Financial Market nearly two decades ago, was among the first major real estate developers to do so. Al Qatami said that experience had shaped the company’s stability and management discipline.
“If you adopt proper governance and make sure the company is managed with the right procedures, it gives long-term stability,” he said. “Mistakes become minimal, and you take the right decisions through a clear process.”
He said Dubai’s recent wave of listings and REITs reflects a wider effort by authorities to broaden market participation and diversify the economy.
“The government’s vision has been very active in the last two years, encouraging more companies to become listed,” he said. “It is good for the economy overall to have more companies traded on the market. Individuals, investors and institutions all become part of this investment ecosystem.”
Dubai’s most recent listing, Dubai Residential REIT, was 26 times oversubscribed and surged 13.6 per cent on its first day of trading in May 2025.
The renewed listing activity comes as Gulf capital markets continue to perform strongly. The region saw 11 IPOs in the third quarter, raising about $700 million, a recent EY report said, adding that market sentiment remains positive, supported by healthy pipelines across the GCC.
“The UAE’s IPO momentum shows that investors have strong confidence in our economy,” Al Qatami said. “For real estate especially, going public creates a more mature and stable market.”
For the first nine months of 2025, Deyaar reported a 24 per cent rise in net profit to AED406.4 million, with revenue up 39 per cent to AED1.45 billion, supported by a 46 per cent increase in property development income. Earnings per share rose 24 per cent to 9.33 fils, while total assets climbed 12 per cent to AED7.59 billion.
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