EXPORTS-

The Finance Ministry’s Kafalah fund is working is partnering with the SaudiImport-Export Bank to provide finance to SMEs with export ambitions, Kafalah said on X. Kafalah provides loan-risk guarantees to help spur the growth of SMEs in the Kingdom. The program is designed to make it easier for qualifying businesses to land finance from banks and financial services companies.

Who can apply? Companies nationwide are eligible to apply provided they’ve been exporters for at least one year and fall in one of the industries covered in the bank’s National Economic ActivitiesGuide.

INVESTMENT WATCH-

#1- Egypt’s e-Finance is a little bit more Saudi after the Public Investment Fund (PIF) raised its stake in EGX-listed fintech player e-Finance by two percentage points to 27% by purchasing freefloat shares, e-Finance Chairman Ibrahim Sarhan told Al Arabiya in an interview. The Saudi Egyptian Investment Company — the PIF’s investment arm in Egypt — had reportedly been looking to increase its ownership of the company to 28%. PIF acquired 25% of the company last year.

#2- Najran municipality is shopping some 24 investment opportunitiesacross the southern province, SPA reported on Monday. The investments include commercial activities, minerals and building materials, health and medical services among others. Interested investors can apply for the potential investments through Furas, the unified investment platform for Saudi cities.

INFRASTRUCTURE-

Keir and SEC ink SAR 26.4 mn contract:Keir International has landed an SAR 26.4 mn contract with the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) to deliver a high-voltage interconnection project in Al Khobar, according to a company disclosure to Tadawul. The contract includes the installation of 115 kV ground cables connecting two stations west of Al-Khobar in the Eastern Province.

MARKET WATCH-

#1-First Mills mulls share buyback to retain talent via ESOP: The Board of Directors of Tadawul-listed milling company First Mills is set to recommend a 300k-share buyback program at the next general assembly, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. The shares will be transferred to a share ownership plan that is part of its long-term incentive compensation scheme for employees. The potential buyback will be funded by the “company’s own cash resources,” setting First Mills back some SAR 20.3 mn at the most recent closing price of SAR 67.50 per share.

#2- Naba Alsaha’s BoD approves a 50% capital increase to fuel expansion:Nomu-listed Naba Alsaha Medical Services gave the greenlight for a SAR 35 mn capital increase in an extraordinary general assembly meeting, saying the proceeds would “support and finance the company’s new expansion projects.” The capital increase will be financed by “capitalizing part of the company’s earnings balance,” raising the company’s capital to a total of SAR 105 mn shares. While each shareholder will receive one new share for every two they own.

Tags: