Saudi accounts for the lion’s share of GCC debt in 1Q

The Kingdom was the biggest issuer of bonds and sukuk in the GCC last quarter, raising USD 31.1 bn across 46 issuances, according to Kuwait Financial Center’s (Markaz) fixed income report (pdf) for 1Q 2025. While Saudi debt sales were down 19.7% y-o-y, the Kingdom still accounted for the lion’s share of the market at 60.2% of the region’s total USD 51.51 bn from 125 transactions during the first quarter of the year.

MEANWHILE- The UAE logged the highest y-o-y growth in the GCC’s total primary debt issuances last quarter (+61.6%), printing USD 10.17 bn across 29 transactions. Kuwait followed in terms of y-o-y growth (40.7%) with nine issuances totaling USD 1.41 bn, while Qatar came in a distant third in terms of value, raising USD 7.14 bn with the second highest count at 38 transactions in 1Q 2025. Bahrain posted the steepest y-o-y decline at 44.5% to USD 1.53 bn across two transactions in 1Q.

Corporate debt’s still king: Sovereign issuers raised USD 19.39 bn last quarter, down 41.8% y-o-y to account for 37.6% of the market, allowing corporate issuers to stay on top. Companies raised USD 32.12 bn in debt last quarter, up 45.3% y-o-y, representing 62.4% of the GCC’s total primary debt sales in 1Q. Meanwhile, government-related corporate entities raked in USD 6.8 bn, making up roughly 21% of all corporate issuances over the same time.

Who’s running the table? The financial sector took the lead in 1Q 2025, raising USD 22 bn across 100 debt issuances, up 23.6% y-o-y, and accounting for 42.8% of the market. Governments followed with USD 19.4 bn from 12 transactions, down 41.8% y-o-y, making up 37.6% of total issuances. The real estate sector came in third with USD 4.3 bn from five issuances (8.3%), while all other sectors combined barely cleared double digits at 11.3%.

Bonds gain favor over sukuk: Conventional debt issuances jumped 15.8% y-o-y in 1Q, pulling in USD 33.76 bn and claiming 65.5% of the market — up from 52.6% a year earlier. Sukuk, meanwhile, saw a pullback, down 32.5% to USD 17.75 bn

By tenor: Short-term issuances (under five years) accounted for 53.1% of total volume at USD 27.4 bn from 99 deals. Mid-term issuances (5–10 years) followed, accounting for 35.8% with USD 18.4 bn across 20 transactions. Long-term paper (10–30 years) was limited to USD 809 mn from a single issuance, while one ultra-long bond (30+ years) came in at USD 1 bn. Perpetuals also gained ground, rising to USD 3.9 bn across 4 issuances.

Large-cap issuances of USD 1 bn or more dominate the GCC primary market in 1Q 2025, accounting for 61.9% of total issuance volume. Mid-sized issuances, between USD 500 mn and 1 bn followed, accounting for USD 14.4 bn from 22 issuances. The most active slice by count was in the sub-USD 100 mn category, where 65 smaller deals raised a combined USD 1.9 bn.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets are mixed this morning, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up 1.6%, Shanghai Composite up 0.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei is down 1.2%. Meanwhile, Wall Street futures are inching down, signalling another week of potential losses for the S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones.

THE CLOSING BELL: TADAWUL-

The TASI rose 0.6% yesterday on turnover of SAR 3.6 bn. The index is down 3.4% YTD.

In the green: Alistithmar Reit (+10.0%), Saudi Cable (+9.9%) and SPPC (+9.9%).

In the red: Riyadh Cement (-3.2%), Leejam Sports (-2.0%) and Almoosa (-1.2%).

THE CLOSING BELL: NOMU-

The NomuC rose 0.9% yesterday on turnover of SAR 23.5 mn. The index is down 7.9% YTD.

In the green: Qomel (+7.9%), WSM (+7.6%) and United Mining (+7.5%).

In the red: Alqemem (-8.4%), Alwaha Reit (-7.0%) and Aqaseem (-6.0%).

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

Riyadh Cement’s shareholders approved a SAR 150 mn dividend distribution for 2H 2024, at SAR 1.25 a share, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul. Distribution date is set for Tuesday, 29 April.

The BoD of Nomu-listed Marble Design recommended to split the nominal value of the share to SAR 1 from SAR 10, by hiking the number of shares to 60 mn from 6 mn — while keeping capital unchanged — it said in a disclosure to Tadawul.

Shaker Group’s board a SAR 27.8 mn dividend distribution for FY 2024, at SAR 0.5 a piece, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul. The distribution date is yet to be announced.