Good morning, wonderful people. We made it halfway through the week, and all it takes is a little push to get to the much-needed weekend and prepare for the final workweek of July.

In today’s issue: Marketing Home Group is out with its IPO prospectus, taking a 30% stake to Tadawul’s main market. Big banks are also topping this morning’s news well with a flurry of earnings releases that exceeded analyst expectations and reported double-digits growth, boding well for the health of our banking sector. Let’s dive in.

HAPPENING TODAY-

Sport ClubsCompany will make its debut on Tadawul’s main market today, according to a Tadawul disclosure. Shares will be allowed to fluctuate within a 30% range, with a static band of 10% for the first three trading days. Starting from the fourth day, shares will be allowed to trade at a 10% volatility as circuit breakers take effect.

REFRESHER- The firm floated a 30% stake in a hybrid offering, which saw its retail offering 5.3x oversubscribed and its institutional tranche 44.1x oversubscribed. The company raked in SAR 257.3 mn in proceeds, set to fund expansion and upgrades. Shares were priced at the top end of the indicative range at SAR 7.5 apiece.

WEATHER- Riyadh will blaze through the day with a scorching high of 44°C, cooling slightly to 30°C as evening sets in. Jeddah will simmer under coastal heat, topping out at 41°C before settling at a balmy 31°C later on. In Makkah, the heat will climb to 43°C, then ease down to a warm 34°C as the sun goes down.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

Saudi Arabia attracted USD 35.5 bn in energy-related investments under China’s Belt and Road Initiative investments in 1H 2025, the highest energy engagement globally, according to a joint research report (pdf) by Griffith University and the Beijing-based Green Finance and Development Center. The Kingdom also drew USD 7.2 bn in BRI construction investments during the same period, placing it in second place globally.

The Middle East accounted for 8.2% of China’s total BRI investments in 1H 2025, with construction engagement in the region totaling USD 19.4 bn. The UAE came after Saudi Arabia in regional construction investment, receiving USD 7 bn in investments.

REMEMBER- Chinese-Saudi collaboration has continued to gather momentum in 2025. The Saudi-Chinese Forum for Product Export and Agricultural Sustainability concluded with 57 agreements worth over SAR 14 bn. Aramco Asia Singapore, a subsidiary of Aramco, also established a USD 4 bn joint venture with China’s Sinopec and its unit Fujian Petrochemical to support port operations and crude oil transportation. Meanwhile, Tencent Cloud committed USD 150 mn to launch the Middle East’s first AI-supported cloud region in Saudi Arabia.

Sukna Capital aims to raise at least SAR 50 mn from the initial closing of its open-ended, shariah-compliant direct lending fund, expecting that figure to reach around SAR 400 mn during the first year of the launch, CEO Fares Bardeesi told Al Arabiya yesterday (watch, runtime 04:47). The fund will target institutional investors during its first year, with plans to pull in individual investors later.

REMEMBER-Sukna secured approval from the Capital Market Authority last week to roll out the region’s first open-ended, shariah-compliant direct financing fund. We talked to Sukna Capital’s CEO Fares Bardeesi to find out what SMEs need from financial structures — and what businesses can do themselves — to secure the finance needed to keep the lights on and expand their operations.

Saudi Azm for Communication and Information Technology and Obeikan Glass declined in their debut on the main market. Obeikan Glass's stock fell by 2.63% to SAR 37, while Azm shed 5.4% to close yesterday's session at SAR 28.60.

The Saudi Exchange had suspended trading of Azm and Obeikan shares last Tuesday, as both companies prepared to transition from the Nomu parallel market. Both companies were listed on Nomu in early 2022.

LVMH-backed luxury date gifting, fine foods, and cafe brand Bateel International eyes tapping New York’s market next year, Bateel’s CEO Nurtac Afridi told Newsweek yesterday. The move is part of a wider plan to increase Bateel’s global portfolio to 500 outlets, up from its current 180 in 25 countries.

REMEMBER- Last April, Bateel announced plans to triple its revenues and grow its store count to over 500 by 2029, up from just under 200. The expansion plan includes building a new factory and tripling the number of palms in its local plantation. It will also market dates globally as a “healthy snack” and scout for new locations across the world.

Sumou Holding is looking to set up its first real estate investment fund in Egypt, Chairman Ayedh Al Qahtani told Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly during a meeting yesterday. The fund would be part of a broader plan to make a “major investment” in Egypt: “We will announce our first project in the Egyptian market,” he said. He added that Sumou is already active in Egypt through its subsidiary Adeer and is considering investing in Downtown Cairo.

DATA POINTS-

#1- The Kingdom’s delivery sector handled 101 mn orders in 2Q 2025, according to the Transport General Authority’s post on X. Riyadh accounted for the largest share at 45%, followed by Makkah at 21.2%, and the Eastern Province at 15.9%.

#2- Passenger traffic on the Kingdom’s rail network reached 7.9 mn in 1H 2025, up 8% y-o-y, Saudi Arabia Railways said on X. A total of 21.2k passenger trips were recorded during the period. Meanwhile, freight transport climbed 13% y-o-y to nearly 14.9 mn tons.

OIL WATCH-

Saudi Arabia slightly increased its crude oil exports in May to 6.191 mn bbl / d, up from 6.166 mn bbl / d in April, according to data from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative. The Kingdom’s petroleum product exports dipped by 10k bbl / d m-o-m to 1.369 mn bbl / d in May.

Production continues to climb: Saudi crude output rose to 9.184 mn bbl / d in May — a 179k bbl / d increase from April. Refinery crude throughput also ticked up by 17k bbl / d m-o-m to 2.721 mn bbl / d.

SPORTS-

Al Hilal withdrew from the 2025-2026 Saudi Super Cup, it said in a statement yesterday. The decision stems from scheduling conflicts following its participation in the Fifa Club World Cup, where playing in the Super Cup would violate mandatory 28-day player leave regulations.

Many reasons: Al Hilal also cited possible health and injury risks for its players due to fatigue over the long season, which would compromise key players’ availability for the national team’s World Cup qualifiers. The late announcement of Hong Kong as the host city was also cited as a contributing factor.

The Blue Waves’ decision to withdraw could result in penalties, including a ban from participating in the next one to two editions of the tournament, in addition to a fine of up to SAR 500k from the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, Sky News reports, citing Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

ALSO- The Saudi Pro League will scrap Derby Week from its 2024-2025 season, despite its success in boosting viewership and marketing last year, people familiar with the matter told Asharq Al Awsat. The move comes as clubs face tight schedules in the new campaign. The league has been reviewing last season’s challenges and is expected to release the full fixture list within two weeks, with the season kicking off on 29 August.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

The White House is stepping up its pressure campaign on the Fed. Chills went down the spines of business leaders and bankers around the world yesterday after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called for a probe into “the entire Federal Reserve institution,” telling CNBC that “What we need to do is examine the entire Federal Reserve institution and whether they have been successful.” Trump and his allies have been putting pressure on Fed boss Jay Powell to cut interest rates. The story leads the front page of the Financial Times this morning.

The stock market shrugged off Bessent’s remarks, with the S&P 500 notching another record high yesterday.

MEANWHILE- China is “stoking the anxiety” of foreign investors with moves against three foreigners, including a US government employee and a senior US banker (both of whom have been forbidden from leaving the country) and a Japanese pharma exec (now sentenced to jail). The New York Times has the story, noting that the moves come even as Beijing continues to court foreign capital.

The worsening situation in Gaza has prompted 28 countries to call for an immediate end to the war and to condemn Israel for the “drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians” who are seeking food and water. The countries include the UK, France, Canada, Italy, and others. (Reuters | Guardian | BBC | France 24)

Israel yesterday launched an air and ground offensive in Deir al Balah, the last place in Gaza which until now had not suffered significant damage from the war. Talks on a ceasefire are continuing, though Hamas officials told Reuters the ongoing attacks are only complicating the situation. (Reuters | Guardian)

ALSO- If your company uses a hosted SharePoint server, expect some disruptions. Microsoft has warned of active cyber attacks affecting its SharePoint collaboration software, impacting so far 100 organizations who use the server on-prem. The problem? The attack has run deep, providing full access to systems and content, allowing hackers to execute code over the network and even bypass future potential fixes. If your firm is one of the many affected, Microsoft issued guidance for entities using the server to patch their on-site systems. (Reuters | CNBC | AP | Bloomberg)

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