Good morning, wonderful people, and welcome to a pleasantly busy issue as a combination of blockbuster real estate projects, more debt issuances, and manufacturing data take the spotlight.

Dar Global is leading the news cycle this morning with news that it will develop two Trump-branded projects in Riyadh and Jeddah with a combined value of USD 10 bn (SAR 37.5 bn). The projects, which are expected to come online within five years, were announced less than two weeks ahead of the coming-into-force of a new law that allows foreigners to own real estate in designated zones in the Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Bank Al Bilad is the latest to join the debt issuance spree with a USD 500 AT1 sukuk issuance, and we also take a closer look at the latest industrial production index data from Gastat.

Watch this space

CAPITAL MARKETS — Nomu-listed construction and mining firm Mohammed Hadi Al Rasheed & Partners is looking to transfer to main market Tadawul, according to a disclosure. Estidamah Capital will advise on the potential transition. This comes less than two years after Mohammed Hadi Al Rasheed floated a 12% stakeon Nomu in May 2024.

What it takes: To transition from Nomu to Tadawul, a company must have been listed on Nomu for at least two years and satisfy all main market listing conditions — except for the market capitalization threshold, which is lowered to a six-month average of SAR 200 mn.

Our take: Against the backdrop of poor performance on Tadawul last year — with only 26 companies ending the year in the green — the company has strong odds of doing well on TASI, backed by a share price that has risen roughly 168% from its IPO price of SAR 28. The company distributed SAR 24 mn in dividends at SAR 2 apiece for FY 2024.

Data point

48.5% — that’s how much contract awards fell in Saudi Arabia in 2025, dropping to USD 84.5 bn, according to initial full-year data from the Meed Projects database. The downturn was mainly caused by gigaproject delays and a decline in spending on power and hydrocarbons.

The drop in awards in Saudi Arabia was also the primary driver of a wider fall in GCC contracts, which were down by about a third last year. Contract awards in the UAE fell some 15% during the year. Bucking the trend were Qatar, which saw a 4% yearly uptick, and Kuwait, which recorded a 16% rise.

Contract values in 2025 were still the third-highest annual figure on record, and the region’s overall project pipeline of unawarded work grew to a record of USD 3.2 tn.

Sports

English striker Ivan Toney secured a second consecutive victory for Al Ahli on Saturday, scoring the lone goal in a 1-0 home finish against Al Okhdood FC, state news agency SPA reports. The 14th round of the Saudi Pro League triumph allowed Al Ahli to reclaim fourth place with 28 points, three points behind Al Taawoun and Al Nassr and seven points adrift of league leaders Al Hilal.

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The big story abroad

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is facing a criminal probe over the renovation of the Fed’s headquarters in Washington, DC, the New York Times reports in an exclusive, citing people briefed on the matter. Investigators are looking into whether he lied about the scope of the renovation, the costs of which had reached USD 2.5 bn this year, up from an initial estimate of USD 1.9 bn. US President Donald Trump has frequently complained about the renovation, including in a famous video (watch, runtime: 3:17) last year during his tour of the HQ.

Powell, in a video statement (watch, runtime: 2:55), claimed the renovation was a “pretext” and that the threat of criminal charges is a “consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President,” explaining that they should be seen in the wider context of ongoing threats and pressure from Trump against the Fed over the past months.

REMEMBER- Powell is leaving his post in May, and Trump has said he’s already chosen his successor, who’s widely expected to potentially be Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council.

Meanwhile, in Iran, protests have intensified despite an ongoing crackdown by the police, leading to around 500 deaths. Trump has several times said he was ready to come to the “rescue” of Iranians, prompting Iran’s speaker of parliament Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, to warn the US against any interference, saying: “Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories [Israel] as well as all US bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” he told parliament.

The US currently has several bases in the Gulf, including in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar (which was targeted last year in retaliation for the US’ attack of Iran’s nuclear plants during its brief intervention in Israel’s war against Iran.)

^^The must-read on the topic: Iranians defy intensifying crackdown as Trump weighs options

Flights between Iran and the UAE, as well as Iran and Qatar, faced disruptions over the weekend, with around 20 flights between Iran and Dubai facing cancellation, though Emirates and flydubai’s flights seem to have departed on schedule yesterday, the National reports.

PLUS- The US could start easing sanctions on Venezuela as soon as next week as the US looks to begin receiving oil from the country, while India is once again getting into tech firm’s crosshairs due to its proposal to make smartphone makers share their phones’ source code with the government for security testing.

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