Good morning, ladies and gents. Caution is the name of the game as we bid farewell to January, with the news cycle slowing to a near halt as companies and investors grapple with global and regional developments.

It seems each new day brings more reports on gigaprojects slowing down. This time, the focus is on the Kingdom’s 2034 Fifa World Cup stadium plans, with several venues reportedly put on hold, unnamed sources told Bloomberg. The government is reportedly shifting its approach, moving away from building eight brand-new stadiums towards refurbishing existing ones.

Which stadiums are we talking about? The Line’s planned 350-m-high stadium and a proposed venue in Jeddah’ Qiddiya Coast are likely to be scrapped, the sources said. However, Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium in Riyadh’s Qiddiya is apparently moving ahead as planned.

The “comprehensive review” drive gathered pace earlier this year, with the deferral of the 2029 Asian Winter Games, media reports on cuts to Neom’s The Line, and, more recently, Riyadh’s The Mukaab being reportedly put on hold. Reassessing spending priorities is intended to support the Kingdom’s transformation strategy, which now expands beyond flagship engineering gigaprojects to other “ecosystems,” including AI and tourism — in line with what Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan described at Davos as delivering “optimal impact at the right cost.”

WEATHER- The weather is moody today, shifting between fog and rain across Riyadh, Makkah and the Eastern Province.

  • Riyadh: 21°C high / 13°C low.
  • Jeddah: 30°C high / 22°C low.
  • Makkah: 32°C high / 23°C low.
  • Dammam: 24°C high / 15° low

Watch this space

BUSINESS — Visa has split its Middle East operations into two distinct clusters to comply with Saudi Arabia’s regional HQ rules, Semafor reports. The new Riyadh-based office will now govern Saudi, Bahrain, and Oman, while Dubai remains a hub for the UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar, both falling under Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

It’s an interesting approach. The RHQ policy was designed to shift regional headquarters away from Dubai and towards the Kingdom. Yet, some companies appear to be adopting a dual-hub approach — maintaining operations in both locations rather than relocating — taking on higher overheads, as functions are duplicated across two headquarters instead of being consolidated, in exchange for maintaining a presence in both markets.

Background: Visa opened its regional headquarters in Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District in 2024 and last month appointed Ali Bailoun as group country manager to lead the region. The company is among more than 700 multinationals that have relocated to comply with Saudi Arabia’s regional headquarters program, which requires firms to establish a local HQ to be eligible for government contracts.

ALSO- Goldman Sachs has formed a senior executive team to strengthen its Middle East presence, targeting sovereign wealth funds and asset management to deepen ties with regional investors and governments, Asharq Business reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The team comprises Anthony Gutman, co-CEO of Goldman Sachs International; Zaid Khaldi, CEO for MENA; Mark Nachman, global head of asset and wealth management; and Jared Cohen, head of global affairs.

AVIATION — Budget carrier flyadeal is targeting triple-digit net income within three years, CEO Steven Greenway told Asharq Business without revealing specific figures. Flyadeal is executing a 35% capacity increase for 2026, aiming to transport 12-13 mn passengers this year, with annual growth of 20-30%, Greenway said. The airline also intends to increase Jeddah-Riyadh frequency from 22 to up to 27 daily flights.

New jets inbound: The airline operates 44 aircraft, with the 45th due next week, and plans to add one aircraft per month over the next four years. Its fleet currently consists of Airbus A320s, with A321s joining next year and A330s the year after.

Data point

SAR 12.5 bn — that’s the total value of consumer spending via point-of-sale (PoS) in the Kingdom in the week ending 24 January, down 10.6% w-o-w, according to the Saudi Central Bank’s latest weekly report (pdf). Spending has cooled following the holiday surge at the start of the year, with the number of transactions also dipping 9.7% w-o-w to 213.6 mn.

Major sectors saw significant weekly declines in total value, including restaurants & cafés (down 18.5%), apparel & accessories (down 19.7%), and hotels (down 23.0%).

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The big story abroad

Trump is doubling down on threats to strike Iran, saying on Tuesday that another “armada” is heading toward the country and hoping that Tehran will “make a deal” with Washington before an attack begins. The threats sent Brent and US crude up roughly 1% to a four-month high, with oil prices also propped up by a weakening USD.

We want no part in this: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian over the phone that the Kingdom will not allow its airspace or territory to be used for military actions against Tehran or any other party.

Big Tech earnings also dominated the news, with Meta, Microsoft, and Tesla all beating netincome and revenue expectations. Meta reported a stronger forecast for first-quarter revenue, pushing its shares up 10% in extended trading, while Microsoft fell over 6% on disappointing cloud growth. Meanwhile, Tesla’s plans to spend USD 20 bn this year to build AI capabilities sent the stock up some 1% despite the company logging its first annual decline in revenue last year.

ALSO- The UK is seeking a reset with China amid tensions with the US, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer to be joined by execs from top banks and manufacturers when he lands in China today.

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