Shares of Dubai contractor Drake & Scull International slumped as much as 30 per cent below their initial public offering price on their Dubai bourse debut.

The stock fell to as low as Dh0.7 (US$0.191) compared with the Dh1 price for which the company sold shares to the public last July, before regional stock markets sunk amid a global equities rout.

More than 465 million Drake shares changed hands in the first two hours of trading with a value of more than more than Dh3.7 billion. Drake shares opened at Dh0.85 dirhams and closed at Dh0.74.

The National