Good morning. The long-anticipated vacation is rapidly approaching as the Ramadan season is seeing its final days. Business in the Kingdom have (expectedly) come into a near halt, with very little news to cover.

PROGRAMMING NOTE- EnterpriseAM Saudi will be celebrating Eid and taking next week off — we will be back in your inboxes before 7am on Sunday, 6 April. We hope you’re looking forward to a beautiful break with family and friends.

WEATHER- ⚠️ Most regions of the Kingdom are expected to see thunderstorms through next Friday, the National Center of Meteorology warned.

  • Riyadh: 22°C daytime / 13°C overnight
  • Makkah: 38°C daytime / 25°C overnight
  • Madinah: 29°C daytime / 18°C overnight

PSAs-

Passengers onboarding water taxis can enjoy up to 50% discount on their trips between 23 March and 3 April, courtesy of the Jeddah Transport Company, the Saudi Gazette reports. The fare is priced at SAR 25 during the period.

REMEMBER- The initial stage of the water taxi service was launched earlier this month, connecting the Jeddah Yacht Club, Jeddah Historic District (Al Balad), and Obhur neighborhood from 3:30pm to 1:30am.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

The revamped HSBC Holdings is expanding its investment banking operations in the Middle East and Asia, after scaling down its activities in Europe and the Americas, CEO Georges Elhedery told Bloomberg. The lender will target mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets in the Middle East and Asia, while shifting its global focus to debt.

Part of a bigger plan: The new strategy is expected to save the bank USD 1.5 bn in efficiency costs as part of a wider restructuring agenda to shift away from low-return consumer banking activities, Elhedery explained.

REMEMBER-Elhedery took over as CEO in September and reorganized HSBC’s globalstructure, grouping together the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey (Menat) with Asia-Pacific operations under the newly formed Eastern Markets division.

WinVeston’s fund gets the go-ahead: Tadawul-listed WinVeston Capital received the green light from the Capital Market Authority for the public offering of its WinVeston Saudi Equity Quant Fund, the authority said in a statement.

DATA POINTS-

#1- The Interior Ministry’s Absher platform processed over 24.3 mn electronic transactions in February 2025, it said in a statement. The Absher Individuals platform accounted for about 22 mn transactions, including 14.6 mn document views via digital wallets, while the business platform processed some 2.3 mn operations.

#2- Parcel deliveries in the Kingdom hit 16.5 mn shipments in the first 20 days of Ramadan, with March 19 seeing the highest volume at over 1 mn parcels, more than double the daily average, the Transport General Authority said in a post on X. The increase was mostly driven by growth in e-commerce — particularly retail shopping.

OIL WATCH-

Opec+ to stick to its guns on boosting oil output: Opec+ will likely follow through with its plan to raise oil output by 135k barrels per day (bbl / d) in May, setting it for the second consecutive monthly increase on the back of stable oil prices, Reuters reported, citing four sources it said are in the know.

The rationale: Low crude inventories support the easing of output cuts, as oil demand is expected to climb in line with seasonal summer demand. The cuts will also make it easier for the group to proceed with monthly hikes, an Opec+ delegate told the newswire.

The caveat: The oil group plans to pressure some members to cap production in order to compensate for exceeding quotas in the past months, while boosting output for members that have consistently met their monthly targets.

REMEMBER- Opec+ has set a new plan for seven members to cut oil production beyond the agreed limits to make up for previous overproduction, with monthly reductions ranging from 189k to 435k barrels bbl / d until June 2026. Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Russia are set to make the largest compensation cuts, while the Kingdom will make small cuts of 6k-15k bbl / d over three months.

SPORTS-

Our men in green held Japan to a goalless draw away from home yesterday in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers, while Australia cemented their second-place position after securing all three points against China. The gap to Australia now stands at 3 points, along with a 9 goal differential. We face the Socceroos at home on 10 June in the final game of this round of qualifiers, five days after an away faceoff with Bahrain.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a ceasefire in the Black Sea, following days of US-backed talks in Riyadh, according to a White House statement. Ukraine said it would begin observing the maritime truce immediately, while Russia hinged its participation on lifting sanctions on agricultural exports and reconnecting key banks to SWIFT. (Bloomberg | BBC | CNN | New York Times | Reuters)

AND- Israel strikes Syria: An Israeli airstrike killed at least six people in southern Syria on Tuesday. The strike followed a reported exchange of fire between Israeli troops and militants near the border. (Reuters | AP)

AND IN THE BUSINESS PAGES- SAP dethrones Novo Nordisk as Europe’s most valuable company: German software company SAP has become Europe’s most valuable public company, overtaking Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, with a market cap of USD 342.4 bn. (CNBC | Reuters | Wall Street Journal | Bloomberg)

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