Good morning, wonderful people. It’s an IPO-heavy kind of morning, with news from Talco, Fakeeh Care, and Miahona. All three have enjoyed strong investor appetite for their main-market offerings, suggesting there’s plenty of interest out there in quality Saudi names even as the Tadawul has underperformed global markets so far this year.

Happening today:

#1- IPO WATCH- The two-day bookbuilding window for the retail tranche of Al Taiseer Group Talco Industrial’s (Talco) IPO starts today with a maximum of 1.2 mn shares up for grabs. Talco priced its IPO on Tadawul’s main market at SAR 43 per share, pegging it at the top of its initial price range, after its institutional offering drew in strong demand with a 68.5x oversubscription rate. The aluminum products maker is taking a 30% stake to the market in a secondary share sale.

#2- Arab foreign ministers led by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan arrivedin Madrid last night, where they will push for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine, as Israel intensifies its attack on Rafah. The foreign trip by the Arab foreign ministers saw stops in Paris and Brussels.

^^ We have more on both stories in this morning’s news well, below.

#3- The Taiwan Business Forum in Riyadh kicks off today at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center. The Jeddah iteration of the event wrapped up yesterday with 21 Taiwanese companies poking the tires of sectors including tech, foodstuffs, and medical devices, Aleqtisadiah reports.

WEATHER- Riyadh could see dusty winds with a daytime high of 41°C and a low of 28°C. Jeddah will see clear skies with a daytime high of 38°C and a low of 27°C, with Makkah set for a high of 45°C and a low of 29°C.

HAPPENING TOMORROW-

#1- Miral Dental Clinics will make its debut on parallel market Nomu tomorrow in a direct listing, according to a Tadawul statement. Shares will be allowed to trade within daily price fluctuation limits of ±30% and static price fluctuation limits of ±10%. The dental group had set a price guidance of SAR 100 per share for its direct listing on Nomu, with trading limited to qualified investors.

#2- Demo day for the final round of the Sanabil 500 MENA seed accelerator will take place tomorrow in Riyadh with seven finalists. Applications for the next batch are now open and will close on 6 August 2024.

DATA POINTS-

#1- The total value of vehicle ins. premiums paid in the Kingdom rose 38% y-o-y to a record high SAR 14.3 bn in 2023, according to Aleqtisadiah analysis of data from Tadawul and the Saudi Central Bank. The rise comes on the back of recently-introduced regulations that require ins. coverage for all vehicles, as well as an increase in the total number of drivers on the road as more women get behind the wheel, the newspaper suggests.

#2- Saudi’s trade surplus with GCC nations grew 38% y-o-y to SAR 14 bn in 1Q 2024, Mubasher reported, citing compiled data from statistics agency Gastat. This increase was driven primarily by the Kingdom’s trade surplus with the UAE, which more than doubled y-o-y during the period to SAR 6.9 bn. Trade surplus with Bahrain rose 76.7% to SAR 6 bn while surplus with Qatar more than tripled to SAR 522 mn.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Cargo flights between Saudi and Nigeria are set to resume soon, Nigeria’s Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister Festus Keyamo said in a post on X. Officials discussed “the resumption of cargo flights operations between both countries that had gone comatose over the years” during the Future Aviation Forum last week in Riyadh, Keyamo said. Saudi had suspended flights to and from Nigeria during the pandemic in 2021, and cargo service has never really returned.

#2- The Saudi Roadway Code will be rolled out in three phases as officials look to standardize the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of roads across the Kingdom, state news agency SPA reported. The breakdown:

  • Awareness raising from now through year-end;
  • Government entities need to adhere to the code from 1 January 2025;
  • The private sector will be required to follow it by from 1 July 2025.

About the code: The code includes 25 guidelines covering road, bridge and tunnel planning, implementation, maintenance and safety. It will also have a special code on the effects of road works on the environment, with another related to requirements of self-driving vehicles.

PSAs-

Pilgrims from Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Morocco, and Turkey will have access to special lounges at Jeddah and Madinah airports, courtesy of the General Authority of Civil Aviation at Jeddah and Madinah airports, according to a statement. The countries — along with Bangladesh and Ivory Coast — are part of the Makkah Route Initiative which aims to deliver high-quality services to pilgrims from the beneficiary countries upon their arrival to Saudi until their departure.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

One story is on every front page this morning: Israel’s deadly strike in Rafah and Israeli troops exchanging fire with Egyptian forces at the Rafah crossing.

There’s been a global outcry after Israel killed at least 45 people in a Rafah tent camp. Even its closest allies in the US have piled on, though two US officials told Axios that the Biden administration is still deciding whether the attack crosses a red line. European Union foreign ministers have for the first time “engaged in ‘significant’ discussion on sanctioning Israel if it doesn’t comply with international humanitarian law,” Politico reports, citing remarks by Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin.

PRESENTED WITHOUT COMMENT- A “tragic mistake,” says Netanyahu: Addressing the Israeli Parliament yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the deaths were due to a “technical failure” and came despite Israel’s “immense efforts to avoid harming the non-involved” (watch, runtime: 0:45).

The news is everywhere this morning: Reuters | Financial Times | New York Times | Times ofIsrael | Associated Press.

AND- An Egyptian officer was shot dead during an exchange of fire between Israeli and Egyptian forces yesterday. The Egyptian Armed Forces are investigating, a military spokesman said. The two sides are in talks to de-escalate, according to a statement from the Israeli side picked up by the Financial Times.

Expect Egypt to remain firmly engaged as a mediator as diplomats resume shuttle diplomacy this week on a potential ceasefire in Gaza.

MEANWHILE- It’s crickets in the global business press this morning. Both US and UK markets were closed yesterday for national holidays.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The two-day Global Project Management Forum will open in Riyadh on Sunday, 2 June, bringing together project managers and stakeholders for talks on the project management ecosystem and emerging technologies.

The #Growth Summit is set to kick off on Wednesday, 5 June, bringing together marketing, product and growth experts at the InterContinental in Riyadh. You can request your invite here.

The Global EV and Mobility Tech Forum will open its doors on Wednesday, 10 July to Thursday, 11 July at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center. The event will bring together policymakers, NGOs, and startups.

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