Dubai Financial Market (DFM) beat most forecasts with a 32.6 per cent rise in second-quarter profit to Dh245.62 million ($66.88 million), its smallest quarterly profit in three quarters.

The exchange said first-half revenues rose 70 per cent to Dh637 million, including Dh454 million of revenue from operations and Dh183 million from investments.

DFM, which gets the bulk of its revenues from trading-commission fees, said profit in the first half of the year surged 100 per cent to Dh560 million from the same period last year.

The Dubai bourse's second-quarter profit, which Reuters calculated from previous financial statements, topped four of five forecasts of analysts in a Reuters net profit survey last month, ranging from Dh198.55 million to Dh618.75 million.

The second-quarter profit fell 21.9 per cent compared with the first quarter, when the exchange made Dh314.38 million.

During the three-month period, the Dubai index hit a three-month low on June 29, down 9 per cent from a two-month peak hit on May 6.

Shares on the DFM fell nearly 4 per cent in the second quarter and are down more than 20 pc this year. They closed at Dh4.95 on Thursday, compared with a Citigroup price target for the stock of eight dirhams.

DFM made Dh185.21 million of net operating profit in the second quarter of last year and Dh314.38 million of net operating profit in the first quarter of this year.