Good morning, everyone, and happy Thursday. Flynas is wrapping up the week nicely, pricing its IPO at the top of the range after orders exceeded the SAR 400 bn mark. Meanwhile, the debt market is seeing issuances from Alinma and the Finance Ministry.

HAPPENING TODAY-

#1- Qualified investors can subscribe to Anmat’s Nomu IPO starting today, with as little as 100 shares and a maximum of 2 mn shares each. The company is floating some 5 mn new shares, representing 11.63% of its post-IPO capital, with the subscription window wrapping up on Tuesday, 27 May.

#2- The Saudi-Spanish Business Forum kicks off today in Riyadh, bringing together over 300 Saudi and Spanish companies across key sectors like logistics, construction, food, sports, and tourism, state news agency SPA reports. Trade between the two countries reached SAR 22.9 bn in 2024, with SAR 12.4 bn in Saudi exports and SAR 10.5 bn in imports.

WEATHER- Expect more dust today in Jazan, Asir, Al-Baha, and Makkah, and parts of Madinah with the Eastern Region’s temperature topping the Kingdom. Riyadh is expected to see a high of 43°C and a low of 28°C today, while Jeddah’s mercury will go as high as 35°C and as low as 28°C. Makkah will see a 43°C high and 32°C low.

PSAs-

#1- A new proposed Saudi Highway Code Law is open for public consultation on Istitlaa until 27 June. Drafted by the Transport General Authority (TGA), the law aims to enforce the code presented last year to unify quality and safety standards for the Kingdom’s road network development and improve road infrastructure efficiency.

The details: Under the proposed law (pdf), any violation to the code must be deposed or fixed by the violator within a set timeframe or face penalties which may include a formal warning, a fine of up to SAR 1 mn per violation, a license suspension of up to one year, or full license cancellation.

#2- Last call for April VAT returns: The Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority is reminding businesses subject to VAT whose annual supplies of goods and services exceed SAR 40 mn to file their April tax returns by Saturday, 31 May, it said in a statement. Late submissions may incur fines ranging from 5% to 25% of the declared taxes.

DATA POINTS-

#1- Liquidity in the Saudi economy grew 4.6% q-o-q in 1Q 2025 to just under SAR 3.06 tn, up from SAR 2.92 tn, according to the Saudi Central Bank’s monthly statistical bulletin (pdf) for March. Meanwhile, liquidity rose 8.2% y-o-y in the first three months of the year, up from SAR 2.82 tn during the same period in 2024.

#2- The Kingdom’s delivery sector recorded 79.6 mn orders in 1Q 2025, up 22% y-o-y, according to a post on X by the Transport General Authority. Riyadh accounted for 44.7% of total deliveries, followed by Makkah at 22.4%, and the Eastern Province at 15.5%.

#3- Saudi Arabia landed in the 12th spot globally in the UN’s International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) 2024 ICT Regulatory Tracker index with a score of 96, moving up from the 23rd place in 2022, according to ITU data. The Kingdom’s ICT Development Index (IDI) score grew 1% y-o-y to 95.7 in 2024, with a universal score of 94.7 and a meaningful score of 96.8, the organization said in a separate report (pdf).

OIL WATCH-

Saudi crude exports down, but output up: Saudi Arabia’s crude exports dropped to 5.75 mn barrels per day (bbl / d) in March from 6.55 mn bbl / d in February, Zawya reported, citing Reuters. Meanwhile, crude output was up at 8.96 mn bbl / d from 8.95 mn bbl / d the month prior. Refineries’ crude throughput also increased to 2.94 mn bbl / d, while direct crude burning rose to 383k bbl / d.

REMEMBER- Opec+ agreed to accelerate oil production increments, adding 411k bbl / d in June and July, after years of cutting production. The oil group could ramp up production rates to as much as 2.2 mn bbl / d by November.

ALSO- Opec+ is now trying to reclaim shale oil market share from the US, Reuters reported, citing industry sources.

What’s different this time? The strategy has fallen short before when technological advancements allowed US producers to cut costs and lower their prices about 10 years ago. However, US shale producers are now in a more fragile position with surging costs, falling oil prices, and the blowback of the Trump administration’s aggressive tariff policies.

How would they do it? To affect the US shale industry, Opec+ would have to lower its prices to under USD 55-60 a barrel from the current average of around USD 65, which is the price needed to make gains from drilling. Inflation and depleted resources from the US’ best quality oilfield have also contributed to increased production costs, as producers search for new areas.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Another dramatic White House meeting unfolded yesterday, as President Trump dimmedthe lights in the Oval Office to watch a video of what he claimed was evidence of genocide and “horrible death” of white farmers in South Africa.

His guest — South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa — rejected the claims made in the video and a stack of papers Trump shuffled through, albeit in a calm, less confrontational manner than the full-display tussle with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy last February. Ramaphosa tried to get the conversation back on track to focus on trade relations with the US.

SPEAKING OF THE US- The Trump administration formally accepted Qatar’s USD 400 mn Being 747 jet, gifted to be used as the President’s Air Force One. He will not be using it any time soon, though — experts put the cost of installing the necessary systems at over USD 1 bn, with the process taking years.

“I am sorry I don’t have a plane to give you,” Ramaphosa said when Trump was asked about the jet by reporters during the meeting.

CLOSER TO HOME- Pressure on Israel is mounting after the military fired shots at a delegationof Arab and European diplomats near the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, triggering wide international backlash. Meanwhile, Israeli PM Netanyahu said Israel “probably” killed Hamas’ de factor leader Mohammed Sinwar, and vowed to establish a complete control over Gaza.

OVER IN TECH- OpenAI will fully acquire AI startup IO — founded a year ago by ex-Apple executive John Ivy — for USD 6.5 bn, its largest transaction to date. Ivy and his team will join OpenAI to work on “a new family of products” designed to bring artificial general intelligence into physical, everyday-use gadgets.

ALSO- US export controls on semiconductors “backfired,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said yesterday, adding they encouraged China’s companies to accelerate development. We have more details in today’s Planet Finance.

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