Daman UAE Value Fund grows over 25 per cent during April 2005

So far the Daman UAE Value Fund has registered 88.99% growth during 2005. The annualized dividend yield for the fund stands at 4.97% on the ex-dividend NAV as against 1.02% dividend yield for the Benchmark NBAD Index for the same period.

In March 2005 the fund posted an impressive performance with the highest-ever one month growth rate in its nearly four-year history. The fund registered a record single month growth of 32.18% from AED 295.66 per share on March 1, 2005 to AED384.79 per share ex-dividend on April 1, 2005.

Following this, Daman (managers of the Daman UAE Value Fund), announced a record dividend payout of AED6.00 a share for the first quarter of 2005. Since inception the Fund has yielded a remarkable return of 427.24 %.

Since inception, the Daman UAE Value Fund has recorded outstanding growth and consistent dividend distributions that have risen from AED 2.00 per share for the first quarter of operations in mid- 2001 to AED 6 per share for the first quarter of 2005.

The Daman UAE Value Fund has registered 42 months of positive gains over its 46-month life compared to only 35 months of positive gains made by the benchmark NBAD Index during this period.

Facet Arabia Fund

Meanwhile, Daman's first Gulf managed fund, designed and tailored for the GCC market, the Arabian Programmed Trading Fund (APTF) Facet Arabia, launched in February 2005, gradually built up its portfolio during April and yielded a positive return of 2.9%.

"The GCC capital markets are still liquidity-driven with a background of good underlying regional and corporate fundamentals. The UAE market was particularly strong during April. The Fund ended April with all its holdings invested but is keeping a high proportion in cash as some individual companies are showing signs of increased volatility," said Mr. Shehab Gargash, Managing Director, Daman.