Daman Fund achieves 100% dividend payment

Mr. Shehab Gargash, Managing Director said:

"We are very proud to be able to report that with the payment of the first quarter 2006 dividend of AED 21, our original investors in the DUV fund have received dividends equivalent to their full capital investment. The fund has now yielded investors the entire 100% of the capital in returns within the life of the fund in cash dividends alone."

Mr. Gargash added :"We are equally proud that, apart from the dividend payouts, our investors will retain 368.52% value of their original capital still intact in the DUV - equivalent to over 3.5 times the initial investment."

When asked about the overall performance of the group's leading fund, Mr. Gargash said the dividend yield for the last 12 months told the story best.

"As you can see from last month, our dividend payouts are exceptional.

This record dividend payout is a dividend yield of 14.92% as against the 1.28% yield on the benchmark NBAD Index. This is consistent with the performance of the fund since its inception."

Remarking further on the fund and the market, he continued: "Despite the market liquidity drain following the IPOs released in a more volatile market which placed a severe strain on equities during the first quarter - once again, our investment managers' strategic allocation for the portfolio rewarded the DUV shareholders. While overall sentiment has improved recently, this may not bring in the much needed investor enthusiasm unless the market situation changes significantly."

During the month of March, the DUV fund outperformed the benchmark NBAD index recording a 1.57% decline vs. the NBAD index, which fell by 2.04% during the same period.

The pre-dividend NAV stood at AED389.52 on March 31, 2006 against AED395.75 on March 1, 2006. When reflecting the AED 21 dividend payout, the fund's ex-dividend NAV for March 06 is AED 368.52.