Good morning, ladies and gents. Both the non-oil and oil sectors are vying for the lead in today’s issue. Aramco is out with its 2Q earnings, showing declines in net income and revenue as average oil prices tanked during the quarter. Meanwhile, non-oil activity expanded at a lower pace in July, as per Riyad Bank’s PMI, with output growth easing to its lowest rate in three and a half years.

Also in today’s issue: Ades Holding snapped up Dubai-based Shelf Drilling in a SAR 1.4 bn merger, while Bupa Arabia and Cenomi Retail saw their net income inch down in 2Q.

HAPPENING TOMORROW-

Marketing Home subscription ends tomorrow: Institutional investors have until Thursday to book a minimum of 50k shares and a maximum of roughly 800k shares in Marketing Home Group, which has set the indicative price range for its Tadawul IPO at SAR 80-85 per share. The company is offering 4.8 mn shares, representing 30% of its share capital, in a secondary sale.

REFRESHER- The IPO would raise SAR 408 mn, valuing the company at an implied SAR 1.36 bn at listing. Retail investors can subscribe on 19-20 August, with final allocations due on 24 August.

WEATHER- It’s a regular ol’ summer day in Saudi, with Riyadh expected to see a high of 44°C and a low of 33°C today, while Jeddah’s mercury will go as high as 39°C and as low as 33°C. Makkah will see a 43°C high and 34°C low.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Alat gets green light for 15% TKE stake and USD 160 mn JV: PIF’s tech arm Alat and the vertical transportation firm TK Elevator (TKE) have secured the necessary approvals for their USD 160 mn JV to manufacture elevators and mobility solutions in Saudi Arabia — the first operation of its kind in the Kingdom by a global company, according to a press release. The agreements also finalize Alat’s 15% strategic equity investment in TKE.

REMEMBER- The approvals finalize the agreement initially announced in February 2025. The acquisition was reported to give TKE an equity value of some USD 12.6 bn, rising to USD 24.1 bn when taking into account the company’s net debt.

The details: The joint venture, based in Saudi Arabia, will manufacture elevators, escalators, and moving walks for the Kingdom and the Mena region. It will include a product development center and training facility aligned with TKE’s SEED Campus. The JV will also act as TKE’s local sales and service arm, with a regional team offering technical support and third-party maintenance through the TKE Universal Service program.

#2- Fitch Solutions’ research unit BMI sees Saudi Arabia’s GDP growth maintaining its strength throughout the rest of 2025, keeping its full-year growth forecast unchanged at 3.8%, noting the robust performance in the 2Q this year, according to a research note seen by EnterpriseAM. The second quarter saw GDP grow 3.9% y-o-y, primarily supported by a strong momentum in the non-oil sector.

Rising oil output to sustain growth: The research unit also expects oil production to increase by 4.4% over the full year, keeping economic growth close to 4.0% in 2H 2025. Oil activities made a positive contribution of 0.9 percentage points in 2Q this year.

However, the non-oil sector is likely to lose momentum in 2H this year, BMI noted. Despite the strong growth in non-oil activities by a 4.7% y-o-y increase in the 2Q, the research unit expects a slight slowdown in the coming months due to weaker oil prices and a cooling construction activity.

2026 in focus: BMI projects the Kingdom’s economic growth to hold near 4%, driven by a continued increase in oil production and stabilizing prices. “Our Oil & Gas team expects

that oil prices will fall from an average of USD 80 per barrel in 2024 to USD 68 per

barrel in 2025, but will then only slip to USD 67 per barrel in 2026,” the research note read.

#3- PIF’s subsidiary Expo 2030 Riyadh Company (ERC) received contractors’ interest on 24 July for Expo 2030’s initial infrastructure works, Meed reported yesterday. ERC divided the infrastructure tender into three lots, including the main utilities corridor, the northern and southern cluster of the nature corridor. The expression of interest was issued on 17 July.

ICYMI- US engineering firm Bechtel was appointed as Expo 2030 project manager last month to oversee infrastructure works across the 6 sq km site, including roads, utilities, and public spaces, as well as transforming the venue into a sustainable urban district.

IN CONTEXT- The PIF launched the ERC last month to manage the construction and operation of the Expo 2030 facilities, which is forecast to contribute approximately USD 64 bn to the Kingdom’s GDP during its development and another USD 5.6 bn while operational.

#4- Al Ittefaq looks to tap advisors for debt restructuring: The Kingdom’s largest private steel manufacturer Al Ittefaq Steel Products is seeking proposals from restructuring advisors as it prepares for debt negotiations with its creditors, Bloomberg reports citing people it says are in the know. Among the largest of the creditors in question is Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP. No advisors have been officially appointed yet.

This is not the first time Al Ittefaq has faced debt issues, having undergone debt restructuring talks in 2009 for USD 1 bn, and again in 2011, and in 2016 for USD 2 bn, the business information service reported.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

It’s a busy day in the international press this morning, from big plays in the sports streaming world, to AI developments, to the usual flavor of disruption from Trump’s executive orders.

A big play in sports: Disney’s ESPN will acquire NFL Network and other media assets from the National Football League, in exchange for the NFL taking a 10% equity stake in the sports network. Disney did not disclose the values of the sale, analysts estimate it lands in the ballpark of a USD 2-3 bn.

ALSO- AMD’s data center performance causes investor concerns: The US chipmaking giant’s share price fell some 6% after hours, after reporting lower-than-expected quarterly earnings. Muted data center revenue growth in 2Q — just 14% y-o-y to USD 3.2 bn — was a far cry from top dog Nvidia’s 73% growth in data center business over the first quarter.

The earnings season continues: Expect giants including McDonald’s, Disney, and Uber to report their quarterly earnings later today.

OVER IN TECH- OpenAI lives up to its name: ChatGPT’s maker decided to enter the open-source competition with DeepSeek and Meta head-on, releasing its first two “open-weight” models gpt-oss 120b and gpt-oss 20b. The new models are claimed to perform close to GPT’s smaller closed models.

AND- Trump cracks down on “de-banking”: US President Trump is about to issue an executive order that would crack down on “politicized or unlawful banking”, punishing US lenders who cut off accounts for political or religious reasons. The order — accompanied with claims of discrimination against conservatives — would extend to clients of “risky industries,” which translates into crypto users and traders.

Also worth reading this morning:

  • The US trade deficit narrowed in June due to a substantial decrease in imports, as the trade gap with China reached its lowest level in 21 years.
  • Norway ordered the world’s largest sovereign fund to review investments in Israelicompanies, after reports showed it financed businesses linked to Gaza war.
  • Elon Musk and Tesla are being sued for fraud, following claims that the world’s richest man concealed the risks of the Robotaxi and self-driving vehicles.
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