Good morning, ladies and gents. We have a busy issue today as Riyad Bank is out with its data for Saudi Arabia PMI, Al Jazira Capital gauges Tasi’s performance in January, and ANB wraps up SAR 3.4 bn sukuk offerings. Let’s dive in.

HAPPENING TODAY-

Global Bankingand Markets Saudi Arabia wraps up today at the Hilton Riyadh Hotel. The two-day networking event brought together over 700 local, regional, and global banking and market leaders, with representatives from government and private sector issuers and borrowers, regulators, investors, banks, and other organizations.

WEATHER- Riyadh is looking at a high of 25°C and a low of 11°C today, while Jeddah’s mercury will peak at 31°C and hit a low of 24°C. Makkah will see a 30°C high and 21°C low.

HAPPENING TOMORROW-

#1- LIV Golf Riyadh’s season opener kicks off tomorrow at the Riyadh Golf Club and wraps up on Saturday, 8, February. Buy your tickets here.

#2- Property owners across several districts in seven cities of Al Qassim Province have until tomorrow to register their properties online through the Real Estate Registry website, according to a statement. The cities included in this round of registrations are Buraydah, Al Bukayriyah, Unaizah, Al Badayea, Riyadh Al Khabra, Al Khabra and As Sahabin, and Ar Rass.

UPDATE-

Derayah Financial secured a binding commitment from Al Olayan to subscribe to its upcoming IPO on the main market, it said in a supplementary prospectus (pdf). The move will see the IPO’s only cornerstone investor Al Olayan pre-book some 4.7 mn company shares out of a total of 49.95 mn shares on offer, representing a 1.88% stake in the company.

An investor’s stamp of approval: A cornerstone investor’s early commitment to an IPO typically signals confidence in the company’s valuation and future prospects. This encourages other investors to buy in and reduces some of the uncertainty around an offering’s success.

REMEMBER- Derayaha Financial is taking a 20% stake to Tadawul in a Regulation S-compliant IPO that would make it the first brokerage firm to hit the Saudi market. The share sale should see it raise some SAR 1.5 bn in proceeds, and would give Derayah a market cap of SAR 7.49 bn at listing.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1-Aviation regulator Gaca will allow foreign private aircraft operators to run domestic charter passenger flights starting 1 May, provided they meet regulatory requirements, state news agency SPA reports. The move comes amid efforts to promote the Kingdom as a global aviation hub while boosting competition and investment in the sector.

REMEMBER-Saudi airports received 128 mn passengers in 2024, up 15% y-o-y. Meanwhile, the number of flights grew 11% during the year to 902k flights, connecting the Kingdom to 172 destinations around the world. The private aircraft sector also grew 24% in 2024, recording 23.6k flights, SPA reported.

#2- Acwa Power is looking to expand its investment portfolio in renewable energy, green hydrogen, and water desalination to some USD 250 bn by 2030, Geo Head of Saudi Arabia at Acwa Power Hesham Tashkandi told Aleqtisadiah. The renewables giant is currently implementing investments worth USD 97 bn, 60% of which are Saudi-based, Tashkandi said.

ICYMI- Acwa is going long on green hydrogen: The company signed an MoU with Germany’s SEFE earlier this week to establish the Saudi-German Green Hydrogen Bridge, aiming to export 200k tons of Saudi-made green hydrogen annually to Europe by 2030. Another MoU with Italy’s Snam — signed last week — aims to explore a green hydrogen supply chain from the Kingdom to Europe.

#3- PIF-backed Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (Salic) currently boasts an investment portfolio worth SAR 27 bn, up from SAR 5 bn in 2019, the company’s CEO Sulaiman Al Rumaih told Aleqtisadiah on the sidelines of the Saudi Fisheries Exhibition. Salic has invested in 14 projects distributed across eight countries, with a focus on grains, meat, poultry, and rice, providing 1.6 mn tons of food commodities to the local market every year, Al Rumaih added.

IN CONTEXT- The Kingdom nearly doubled its poultry production over the past decade as part of a push for food self-sufficiency and to address an 80% reliance on food imports that leaves the Kingdom vulnerable to shocks. Saudi Arabia’s chicken production is growing at 6% a year — one of the fastest rates in the world.

#4- Saco is shifting away from brick and mortar: The SaudiCompany forHardware (Saco) is doubling down on e-commerce retail channels, with the company growing their online sales by 60% in 2024, the company’s CEO Abdulsalam Bader told Asharq Business (watch, runtime: 6:55). The trend — which helped Saco offset declines in physical store sales and bolstered last year’s financials — has left the firm largely uninterested in expanding brick and mortar stores, Bader said.

SPORTS-

Riyadh Air and Liv Golf agreed a multi-year partnership, granting the PIF-owned airline comprehensive sponsorship and a host of exclusive benefits over the championship’s 14 global events, according to two statements (here and here). Riyadh Air will feature in on-course branding and TV placement as early as this week at the Riyadh Golf Club, where this year’s season officially tees off. No additional information was provided on the financial ticket.

***You’re reading EnterpriseAM Saudi, your essential daily roundup of business, economics, and must-read news about Saudi, delivered straight to your inbox. We’re out Sunday through Thursday by 7am Riyadh time.

EnterpriseAM Saudi is available without charge thanks to the generous support of our friends at Tas’heel.

Want to send us a story idea, request coverage, ask for a correction, or otherwise get in touch? Reach out to us on saudi@enterpriseAM.com.

DID YOU KNOW that we also cover Egypt, the UAE, the MENA logistics and climate industries?

Were you forwarded this email? Tap or click here to get your own copy of EnterpriseAM Saudi delivered every weekday.
***

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

It’s another morning with the foreign pages fixated on the latest from Trump: US President Donald Trump is making headlines once again for pushing for “cleaning out” Gaza.

A US takeover of Gaza? During a joint presser with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump proposed that the US take over, develop and own the Gaza Strip to turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” He once again called for the forced displacement of all 2.2 mn Palestinians who call Gaza home. “Countries of interest with humanitarian hearts” could fund permanent resettlement of Gazans in Egypt, Jordan, and possibly other locations.

“They say they’re not going to accept,” he said of Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab countries, standing next to Netanyahu. “I say they will.”

Hamas was quick to reject the proposals, saying that “our people in Gaza will not allow for these plans to come to pass.” Egypt and Jordan had already rejected Trump’s earlier suggestion they take in Gazans, with Jordan’s King Abdullah heading to Washington next week to meet with Trump. (Reuters | Bloomberg | CNN | FT | NY Times)

ALSO- Trump signed a presidential memorandum ahead of the conference reinstating a “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions. The memo also includes a campaign aimed at “driving Iran’s oil exports to zero,” threatening USD 53 bn of Iranian oil exports, per 2023 estimates. As usual, Trump signalled he was open to negotiating an agreement with Iran that saves everyone the trouble. (Reuters | NY Times | CNBC)

Tags: