Lots of debt news from PIF, Alinma, Saudi German

1

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

THIS MORNING: Another Adnoc unit eyes growth in Saudi + Competition agency says it didn’t quash Panda acquisition

Good morning, friends. It’s a capital-markets-heavy kind of morning in the Kingdom, with plenty of action on both the debt and equities front after a relatively slow start to the week.

#1- Drugmaker Avalon Pharma will make its debut on Tadawul in a few hours’ time.Shares from its SAR 492 mn IPO open at SAR 82 apiece. The offering saw heavy demand from retail and institutional investors earlier this month.

Avalon’s shares will be allowed to trade in a ±30% band on each of their first three days in the market before being capped at no more than 10% up or down after that before circuit breakers kick in. (All shares on Tadawul are subject to the 10% up-or-down rule.)

#2- We also have our eyes on Amiantit’s tradable rights issue, which kicks off today. The Dammam-based pipe and industrial products manufacturer aims to increase its total capital by 4x or so. The subscription period wraps up on Sunday, 10 March.

AND- We have news this morning of three debt transactions, including the PIF’s plan to again tap the international bond market, Saudi German Health’s SAR 1 bn sukuk sale, and Alinma Bank looking to raise tier 1 capital through the sale of USD-denominate AT1 certificates.

WEATHER- Expect clear skies in Riyadh today and a pleasantly sunny day in Taif and Alula. Enjoy the day: The wind will pick up and temperature plunge in the capital city as we slide toward the weekend.

Riyadh: 24°C daytime / 10°C overnight
Taif: 25°C daytime / 12°C overnight
AlUla: 25°C daytime / 10°C overnight

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- A regional HQ for the IMF here? The Shura Council has approved a draft headquarters agreement between the government and the International Monetary Fund that could see the multilateral lender set up a regional office in Riyadh, according to a post on X yesterday. No further details were provided.

#2- Another Adnoc subsidiary has plans for the Kingdom: Adnoc Distribution, a subsidiary UAE state-owned oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), plans to ramp up its presence in both Saudi and Egypt, it said in a disclosure to ADX (pdf) yesterday.

BACKGROUND- Sister company Adnoc Drilling is looking to grow its operations across the Middle East, including Saudi, Kuwait and Oman, CFO Youssef Salem said last week. It is investing USD 750-950 mn on rig procurement to cover deployment needs for target countries by the end of the year, he said.

#3- The General Authority for Competition has not quashed retail giant Panda’s acquisition of an IT services firm it is looking to acquire, Saad Al Masoud, a spokesman for the competition watchdog, told Al Eqtisadiah yesterday. The clarification came after GAC fined Panda and the IT firm SAR 400k each for what it said was a failure to file notice of the planned transaction.

#4- Bonjour, mes amis! 40 French companies discussed potential investments in the Kingdom during a meeting organized by the Saudi French Business Council and the French Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Saudi Chambers (CSA) said in a post on X yesterday. Names of the participating French companies were not disclosed.

AND- ¡Hola España! The Saudi Spanish Business Council separately discussed with Princess Haifa Al Mogrin, the Saudi envoy to Spain, a plan to boost business ties, CSA said in a separate post.

#5- The more footie here, the merrier: Fifa has partnered with Saudi to launch its first series of men’s international friendlies in March, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The Kingdom will host two of the four-team pools that include Algeria, Bolivia, Bulgaria and South Africa. The Fifa Series games, which will be played from 18-26 March, include 20 national teams. Only four of the teams taking part in the games took part in the World Cup: Algeria, Bolivia, Bulgaria and South Africa.

We know this was in the works: The new friendlies project by the world football governing body was first floated by Fifa President Gianni Infantino during the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. Fifa hopes to have teams from different regions meet more often in a bid to raise competitiveness.

#6- SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT- We’re not friends yet: An unnamed official official has denied media reports that Commerce Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi met with Israeli Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat at the World Trade Organization’s ministerial gathering in Abu Dhabi yesterday, state news agency SPA yesterday. The Israeli minister reportedly only shook hands with Al Qasabi as the latter was standing with his Nigerian counterpart before introducing himself as minister, the source said.

ALSO worth knowing about this morning:

Alinma Investment Company received regulatory approval for two university endowment funds (details here and here)
The government is set to invest SAR 6 bn on environmental compliance initiatives by 2030 (SPA)

THE BIG STORIES ABROAD-

Joe Biden thinks we could see a ceasefire in Israel’s war in Gaza “by Monday,” saying, “Well I hope by the beginning of the weekend, by the end of the weekend. My national security adviser tells me that we’re close. We’re close. We’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire.”

Biden’s remarks were spontaneous and in response to a question from reporters, Reuters and the New York Times report. The news came as the Palestinian Authority government stepped down amid Arab and US calls for reform and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu presented his cabinet with a plan for the evacuation of Rafah ahead of the IDF’s planned assault on the city.

AND- Things are relatively quiet in Abu Dhabi, where World Trade Organization leaders are trying to temper expectations that sweeping changes to how the global trade system works could emerge from the ministerial. EnterpriseAM UAE has the full rundown on day one of the gathering in this morning’s edition.

The big question: Will India’s commerce minister, Piyush Goyal, said to be a holdout on key issues, appear in Abu Dhabi today after skipping yesterday’s opening?

PLUS- Goldman Sachs revised its forecast for summer peak Brent upwards to USD 87 a barrel, citing disruptions to shipping in the Red Sea, Reuters reported yesterday. Goldman expects Brent to stay within the USD 70-USD 90 range on the back of a dampened price volatility despite the crisis in the Red Sea.

From Planet Finance:

#1- Citigroup is looking to regain its dealmaking mojo after hiring Viswas Raghavan from JPMorgan Chase to run its new banking division. Raghavan will report directly to CEO Jane Fraser, who’s in the midst of the biggest restructuring of Citi in decades. Raghavan had just been promoted to become the sole head of investment banking at JPM last month. The story is getting plenty of ink from the Financial Times and Bloomberg.

#2- Jacob Rothschild passes away: Banker and philanthropist Jacob Rothschild, a seventh-generation heir of the Rothschild banking dynasty, died yesterday at the age of 87, according to an announcement by the Rothschild Foundation — a British charity he led. The story is everywhere in the foreign press: Bloomberg | Reuters | NY Times | The Guardian | Wall Street Journal.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Riyadh will host the International Conference on Sand and Dust Storms in the ArabianPeninsulafrom Monday, 4 March to Wednesday, 6 March. The conference will address regional challenges caused by sand and dust storms and discuss monitoring systems, mitigation strategies, economic and infrastructural impacts, and more.

Tickets are on sale for the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, scheduled for Jeddah from 7-9 March.

Riyadh will host a World Economic Forum special meeting on 28-29 April.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

PIF has hired HSBC, Goldman, StanChart to advise on second sukuk of 2024

The Public Investment Fund plans to offer a senior, unsecured seven-year sukuk as it taps the debt market for a second time this year, Reuters reported yesterday, saying it has seen a document sent to the advisors tapped to lead the transaction.

ADVISORS- PIF has hired our friends at HSBC alongside Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered as joint global coordinators for the offering. The size of the offering and its timeline remains unknown; it’s not clear when the bankers plan to take PIF on the road for the sale.

BACKGROUND- The PIF tapped the debt market last month, raising USD 5 bn from an offering that was more than 5x oversubscribed, with global institutional investors placing orders worth USD 27 bn.

REMEMBER- The PIF closed in October a USD 3.5 bn global sukuk issuance, two green bond offerings totaling USD 8.5 bn between 2022 and 2023, and lined up a USD 17 bn corporate facility in 2022. The fund plans to ramp up annual deployment capacity to USD 70 bn a year starting 2026, fund governor Yasir Al Rumayyan said at the FII Priority conference in Miami last week. This is a big step-up from its current annual spending clip of USD 40-50 bn.

PIF is looking to continue a heavy pace of investment even as the price of oil remains tepid and officials pace out some aspects of gigaprojects originally slated to wrap by 2030. The fund recently unveiled Alat, its advanced-technology manufacturing platform, which plans to invest USD 100 bn in the field through 2030.

Alinma Bank looks to raise tier-1 capital through USD-denominated offering

Alinma Bank is planning to issue USD-denominated additional tier one certificates as the lender looks to shore up its core or “tier 1” capital, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul. It hasn’t said how much it hopes to raise through the offering and said the transaction is still subject to regulatory clearance.

Bankers will offer the additional tier 1 certificates to both local and international investors, the disclosure said.

ADVISORS- Alinma hired Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Alinma Investment Company, Emirates NBD Bank, J.P. Morgan Securities, MUFG Securities, and Standard Chartered Bank as joint lead managers on the transaction.

Uh, Enterprise? What’s tier 1 capital? Broadly speaking, you can think of tier 1 capital as being the bank’s stock and retained earnings — it’s the most liquid capital and readily available to it if a lender needs more liquidity in a time of crisis. Tier 2 capital is less-liquid capital, including some kinds of term debt — it can be more difficult to mobilize when a bank needs it because of restrictions placed on it by borrowing covenants. The Basel accords set minimum requirements for both tiers to ensure banks can absorb losses and remain solvent, stipulating specific ratios of Tier 1 and total capital to risk-weighted assets

SOUND SMART- Additional tier one certificates (or just “AT1 certificates”) are a form of subordinated debt — they rank behind other types of bank debt in case of liquidation. That makes them riskier than senior debt, but still prioritizes them above equity holders.

IN OTHER DEBT NEWS-

Enma AlRawabi lined up SAR 170 mn in Shariah-compliant facilities from Arab National Bank with a five-year financing period, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul. The fresh funds will help the company buy real estate assets in Riyadh.

Saudi German Health wraps SAR 1 bn sukuk sale

Saudi German Health wrapped up the sale of a SAR 1 bn sukuk yesterday, it said in a regulatory filing, marking the completion of its first issuance under a SAR 1.5 bn sukuk program. The final terms of the sukuk will be released on Al Rajhi Capital’s webpage on Wednesday, 6 March.

It’s all about keeping borrowing costs under control: “This [sukuk program] will help improve cashflow and boost profitability,” President and Deputy Chairman Makarem Batterjee told CNBC Arabia in an interview last month, estimating the healthcare provider’s total debt at SAR 3 bn.

Background: The five-year SAR-denominated sukuk carries a 7.2% fixed annual yield which will be paid out to sukuk holders on a quarterly basis.

Proceeds will be used to finance the company’s general corporate operations, after having entered into mudaraba and murabaha transactions in compliance with Shariah law, according to the prospectus (pdf).

ADVISORS-Al Rajhi Capital quarterbacked the transaction as the sole lead manager, financial advisor and arranger with Linklaters acting as legal advisor.

Diversification, population growth drive growth in the insurance market

Saudi Arabia is expected to remain the largest ins. market in the GCC region for the foreseeable future after dethroning the UAE in 2022, growing at a compounded annual rate of 5.8% to USD 19 bn between 2023 and 2028, said Alpen Capital in its latest ins. industry report.

Thanks to growing demand: Financial advisory firm Alpen based its projections on the Kingdom’s fast moving infrastructure sector and rising demand for automotive and medical coverage.

The regional market in a nutshell: The market’s gross written premium (GWP) is predicted to grow 5.3% in the medium term (until 2028) to USD 44 bn on the back of diversification efforts and a growing population. The majority of the premiums comprises non-life ins. which is expected to expand 5.4% to USD 40 bn over the same period.

Peer markets: Kuwait’s ins. sector is expected to grow at the fastest clip in the region with a CAGR of 6.4% to USD 2.4 bn by 2028, while the UAE’s will expand at a 4.9% clip to USD 18 bn, Qatar (4.8%), Oman (4.5%), and Bahrain (2.6%).

It’s not without challenges: The report highlights that price competition is likely to erode profit margins and higher passed-on risks to reinsurers are likely to squeeze profitability. Automotive and medical ins. are likely to experience disruptions attributed to hikes in claim costs along with higher taxes.

Technological change: “Insurtech is also enabling insurers to provide customized products that cater to individual needs, leading to a further increase in demand for ins.” said Alpen Capital Managing Director Sameena Ahmed. Insurtech is expected to drive innovation in the sector and boost efficiency, she added.

Aramco names EPC contractors for the master gas system expansion

Aramco is said to have issued letters of intent to contractors it wants to hire to work carry out work on the Kingdom’s primary natural gas pipeline. The LOIs have been issued for engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) work on the USD 10 bn third phase of expansion a program to expand Aramco’s Master Gas System (MGS-3), Meed reported last week, citing sources it says have knowledge of the situation.

SOUND SMART- Built in the mid-1970s, the MGS is the Kingdom’s main gas pipeline that includes a network linking gas production and processing sites across the Kingdom. Aramco has for some years now been working to expand the system. The MGS now has a capacity of 12.5 bn standard cubic feet per day.

Expect contracts to be awarded soon: Aramco will award official contracts to the winning bidders “later in this quarter”, sources told Meed.

Some of those on the list: The selected contractors include China-based firms China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Company, Sepco, and Sinopec. They also include Indian multinational Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon and Kalpataru Power Transmission among other firms. Also on the list is a consortium between local contracting firm Nesma & Partners and Italy’s construction firm Sicim.

Ironing out the details: EPC works on the project are divided into 17 packages, with the first two focusing on upgrading existing gas compression systems and installing new compressors. The remaining 15 packages entail installing gas transport pipelines across different locations here.

Eastern province gets new road link to UAE, Qatar

The Roads General Authority opened the third phase of the Dhahran-Al Uqair-Salwa road, RGA said in a statement on X. The 66 km road serves as a shortcut between the industrial city in Jubail and trade points on the Eastern, Al Arabiya reports.

Background: This is part of a SAR 199 mn project, 185 km project that aims to better connect the Eastern province with Qatar and the UAE, slashing the drive time to the border by as much as an hour, according to a separate statement.

What’s next: RGA has been working to wrap up construction work on the fourth and last phase of the project, a 13 km stretch. It has yet to provide a construction update or say when it expects work to finish.

IN CONTEXT- The Kingdom has improved its road quality index by 10% y-o-y with a score of 5.7 in 2023, positioning us in fourth place among G20 nations, state news agency SPA reported last week, citing a 2023 World Economic Forum (WEF) report. The index is a measure of road safety.

Dallah inches closer to acquiring a majority stake in Al-Ahsa Medical

Dallah Healthcare has signed a non-binding MoU to fully acquire Ayyan Investments’shares in Al Ahsa Medical and Al Salam Medical Services Company, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. Ayyan fully owns Al Salam Medical Services and owns 97.4% of Al Ahsa Medical.

The two parties have agreed on an “initial valuation,” Dallah Healthcare said, and look set to do a share swap if the transaction goes ahead.

It’s been an eventful week for Dallah: The International Medical Center — in which Dallah Healthcare owns a 27.2% stake — signed two agreements worth a combined SAR 21 mn earlier this week to set up a new integrated hospital in North Obhur in Jeddah.

ADVISORS- Dallah Healthcare appointed Al Jazira Capital as its financial advisor for the transaction.

Ma’aden, Sabic Agri-Nutrients and Amlak Finance report results for FY 2023

State-owned mining giant Saudi Arabian Mining Co’s (Ma’aden) net income fell 83.1% y-o-y in 2023 to SAR 1.6 bn, according to disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. Its revenues were down 27.3% y-o-y last year to SAR 29.3 bn.

Driving the decline: Ma’aden attributed the drop in net income throughout the year to lower commodity prices except for gold and higher finance costs due to surging interest rates and lower profit share from its joint ventures. Revenues were down on the back of lower commodity prices except gold, Ma’aden said, yet said higher sales volumes of some of its products, including ammonia phosphate fertilizer, alumina and gold helped offset the drop in sales.

Key highlights during the year: Ma’aden said it finalized the commissioning of the Kingdom’s largest gold mine Mansourah Massarah with an annual production capacity of 250k ounces of gold, according to its earnings release (pdf). It also discovered a “significant gold resource potential” south of the gold mine, the statement said. The year also saw the launch of Manara — a JV between the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Ma’aden — which sealed an agreement with Brazilian miner Vale to grab a 10% slice of its base metals unit as it eyes a pivotal role in the global energy transition supply chains. The completion of the Vale transaction remains unchanged from a previous set date of the first quarter of this year, it said.

SABIC AGRI-NUTRIENTS-

Sabic Agri-Nutrients’ net income fell 64% y-o-y in FY 2023 to SAR 3.7 bn on the back of lower sales, according to an earnings release (pdf) yesterday. Its revenues plunged 42% y-o-y during the period to SAR 11 bn due to lower average selling prices.

A look at Q4: Sabic Agri-Nutrients’ net income fell 55% y-o-y in the fourth quarter of the year to SAR 978 mn, while its top line was down 29% y-o-y during the same period to SAR 2.97 bn.

2023 was a tough year for the fertilizer industry due to “redrawn trade routes, ratable output from import-replacement plants, easing energy costs, and anticipation of a reversal to Chinese export policy,” it said.

And this year could prove challenging, too: The industry expects limitations on supply to continue throughout the year due to exports controls and gas reduction across a number of nitrogen producing regions. It said the industry was “increasingly vulnerable to Suez/Panama Canal transit disruptions that ultimately raise shipping costs and directly cut into producer netback.” The disruptions would impact seaborne ammonia, it said, warning that an ongoing shortage would lead to a shortfall in phosphate and nitrate fertilizer supplies.

AMLAK FINANCE-

Real estate financing solutions provider Amlak International Finance Co’s net income dropped 67.1% y-o-y to SAR 31.8 mn in 2023 on the back of higher finance costs and operating expenses, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. Its revenues were down 19.4% y-o-y in the period to SAR 180.8 mn.

Dive deep: Amlak’s assets were up 11.4% y-o-y last year to SAR 3.9 bn, while its investments were down 10.5% y-o-y during the period to SAR 893 mn. Its loans and advances portfolio rose 13.7% y-o-y in the same period to SAR 3.7 bn.

Fahad Al-Obailan is the new CEO of Alhokair Tourism and Development Group

#1- Alhokair Tourism and Development Group has appointed Fahad Al-Obailan (LinkedIn)as its new CEO, succeeding Sami Alhokair, Argaam reports. Al-Obailan has a two-decade track record in tourism and retail with leadership roles at Al-Mosafer and Seera Group.

#2- Finance Minister Mohamed Al Jadaan appointed Riyadh bin Mohamed AlKhorayef as his deputy to IMF’s top policy advisory body, the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), a statement by the Finance Ministry read yesterday. AlKhorayef is the Finance Ministry’s under-secretary for international relations. The IMFC includes finance ministers and central bank governors from 24 countries, according to the IMF’s website.

In context: Saudi has assumed chairmanship of the IMFC.

Ronaldo in spotlight, but maybe not as he’d like

It is relatively a quiet morning for the Kingdom in the foreign press, with Reuters taking note of controversy surrounding an angry Cristiano Ronaldo following an on-pitch ‘obscene gesture’ believed to be directed at Al Shabab’s fans after Al Nassr won 3-2. The Ronaldo drama and reports on the football star facing investigation is also getting coverage from Sky News and The Telegraph.

KEC contracts Hyatt Int’l for a tourism project in Madinah. PLUS: Real estate, manufacturing, hospitality, transportation, Saudi Real Estate (Al Akaria), Southern Province Cement, Jeddah Historic District Program,

TOURISM-

KEC + Hyatt International sign agreements for hospitality projects in Al Alya: Knowledge Economic City (KEC) has signed agreements with global hotel operator Hyatt International to operate and run a four-star hotel and hotel apartments under the Hyatt brand in its mixed-use Al Alya project in Madinah, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. The financial terms of the contract will account for a share of operating revenues from the new hotel establishments, it said.

What we know: The Al Alya project is mixed-use development incorporating hospitality, residential, office, retail, and educational sectors. It will include the four-star Hyatt Centric hotel with 130 rooms and the four-star Hyatt House, which will be home to 420 hotel apartments.

REAL ESTATE-

#1- Saudi Real Estate (Al Akaria) has signed a contract with the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) and PIF-owned AlUla Development Company to develop and manage the planned Sidrat AlUla real estate project, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. Under the contract, Al Akaria will bag a 10% development management fee of all project expenses, 2.5% of total sales, as well as another 10% from residential and commercial revenues. The contract runs for five years, with its value to be determined within 120 days of breaking ground on the project.

Sidrat AlUla? The project, part of the RCU’s urban expansion drive at the area, will span 260.2k sqm, including 810 residential units as well as 36.8k sqm in commercial and retail areas.

#2- Mulkia Investment Co plans to establish a real estate fund aimed at acquiring a 2.6 mn sqm land plot in Buraidah, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. The transfer of ownership of the plot from its unnamed owners is pending the completion of bank financing procedures and sign-off from the Capital Market Authority. No details were provided on the size of the fund or the value of the land.

MANUFACTURING-

Tadawul-listed Southern Province Cement expects its production costs to rise by 12.5% on the back of Aramco’s fuel hikes, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul. Aramco notified industrial and petrochemical companies in last month that it was raising the price of diesel 53% to SAR 1.15 per liter this year from SAR 0.75 last year.

HOSPITALITY-

One step closer to heritage hotels in Jeddah’s historic Al Balad district: The Culture Ministry-backed Jeddah Historic District Program signed a contract with the PIF’s Al Balad Development Company to open heritage hotels in Jeddah’s historical district of Al Balad, state news agency SPA reports. Upon the restoration of the area, the program will hand over the heritage hotels’ management to Al Balad Development Co’s unit Al Balad Hospitality. The contract is part of a bid to turn the area into a global cultural and tourism attraction.

TRANSPORTATION-

Saptco’s buses are coming to Aseer: The Saudi Public Transport Co. (Saptco) was awarded a five-year SAR 113 mn contract to operatethe public transport network in Aseer’s Abha, Khamis Mushait, and Ahad Rufaidah, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday.

CULTURE-

RCU to get cultural boost from Panthéon-Sorbonne: The Royal Commission for Al Ula entered a partnership with French university Panthéon-Sorbonne to set up the Jaussen and Savignac Center for Archaeological Research in AlUla and Paris, it said in a statement on Linkedin yesterday. They will also focus on capacity building and knowledge transfer through programs including the Jaussen and Savignac Chair Master Program, according to the statement.

NBFS-

Egyptian non-banking financial services outfit Aman Holding will roll out installment services in Saudi Arabia in 2H 2024, by setting up a Saudi arm with a local investor, Aman Financial Services CEO Hazem Moghazi said according to Asharq Business. Aman will hold a 51% stake in the Saudi joint venture, while the unnamed local partner will hold the remaining 49% share, Moghazi said, according to Al Borsa.

Mubadala + Goldman Sachs enter USD 1 bn agreement with an eye on Asia

Abu Dhabi Sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and global investment bank Goldman Sachswill co-invest USD 1 bn in private credit in the Asia-Pacific region under a new partnership agreement,according to a joint statement. The partnership will see the two deploy long-term capital to “high quality companies and sponsors” throughout the region, with a particular focus on India, the statement said.

How it will work: Goldman Sachs Alternatives’ private credit division will use on the ground teams across different Asia Pacific markets to look for potential clients, the statement said.

ICYMI: Mubadala plans to more than double its assets in Asia to 25%, from the 12% currently under the fund’s management, head of Mubadala’s life sciences and healthcare investments Camilla Macapili Languille told Bloomberg.

Asian markets are trading sideways this morning, and futures point to a soft opening for markets in Europe, the United States and Canada later today after US stocks yesterday took a breather after the Dow and S&P 500 cooled from record highs last week.

TASI	12,531.76	-0.6% (YTD: +4.7%)
MSCI Tadawul 30	1,616.76	-0.2% (YTD: +4.3%)
USD : SAR (SAMA)	3.75 Sell	3.75 Buy
Interest rates	6% repo	5.5% reverse repo
EGX30	28,931.92	+3.9% (YTD: +16.2%)
ADX	9,260.60	-0.2% (YTD: -3.3%)
DFM	4,223.25	-0.1% (YTD: +4%)
S&P 500	5,069.53	-0.4% (YTD: +6.3%)
FTSE 100	7,684.30	-0.3% (YTD: -0.6%)
Euro Stoxx 50	4,864.29	-0.2% (YTD: +7.6%)
Brent crude	USD 82.57	+1.2%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 1.66	+3.5%
Gold	USD 2,038.90	-0.5%
BTC	USD 54,695.03	+5.7% (YTD: +136.4%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The TASI fell 0.6% yesterday on turnover of SAR 9.2 bn. The index is up 4.7% YTD.

In the green: Amiantit (+7.7%), Maharah (+6.2%) and Wataniya (+5.8%).

In the red: APC (-5.6%), EIC (-5.6%) and MBC Group (-5.4%).

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

#1- Walaa Cooperative Ins.’ board of directors recommended a capital increase to SAR 467.5 mn through a rights issue at SAR 11 per share, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul.

#2- Burgerizzr’s board of directors has recommended a dividend payout of SAR 5 mn for 2023 at SAR 0.14 apiece, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul. No further information was provided.

FM Prince Faisal bin Farhan stresses urgency of Gaza ceasefire during UN Human Rights Council in Geneva

Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan reiterated the urgency of an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza at yesterday’s session of the UN Human Rights Council, state news agency SPA reports. “Israel continues its war in Gaza through a [series] of ongoing violations to the international humanitarian law,” he said. He urged donor countries to the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) to backtrack on their decision to suspend funding to the agency following Israel’s allegations that some of the agency’s employees took part in the 7 October attacks.

Bin Farhan and Arab foreign ministers also warned of the catastrophic consequences ofan Israeli offensive in Rafah, where more than 1 mn Palestinians are taking shelter, during a meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to a joint statement (pdf). The ministers also stressed the importance of swift and serious measures to ensure the safety of relief corridors to help deliver emergency aid to the besieged strip.

Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef stressed on the importance of boosting joint Arab security during the Arab Interior Ministers Council in Tunisia, state news agency SPA reports.

PARLIAMENT COOPERATION WITH RUSSIA-

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed prospects for joint parliamentary cooperation with Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, who paid his first official visit to the Kingdom, state news agency SPA reports. Volodin put forward a proposal that Saudi Arabia and Russia sign an inter-parliamentary agreement during a meeting with Shura Council Speaker Abdullah Al Sheikh, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

CALENDAR

MARCH

2 March (Friday): End of Noor Riyadh show, segment “Refracted Identities, Shared Futures,” Riyadh.

4-6 March (Monday-Wednesday): International Conference on Sand and Dust Storms in the Arabian Peninsula, Riyadh.

4-7 March (Monday-Thursday): LEAP 2024, Riyadh.

10 or 11 March: First day of Ramadan (tbc based on sighting of the crescent moon).

11 March (Monday): Flag Day (national holiday)

APRIL

10 April (Wednesday): Eid al-Fitr (to be confirmed based on the start date of Ramadan)

14-21 April (Sunday-Monday): IMF and World Bank spring meetings, Washington, DC

28-29 April (Sunday-Monday): World Economic Forum’s Special Meeting, Riyadh.

29 April-1 May: Future Hospitality Summit at Al Faisaliah Hotel, Riyadh.

MAY

19-21 May (Sunday-Tuesday): Saudi Energy Convention, Riyadh.

21-23 May (Tuesday-Thursday): The Saudi Food Show, Riyadh.

Signposted to happen sometime in May:

Global Trade Review (GTR): KSA
Saudi Energy Convention

JUNE

5 June (Wednesday): World Environment Day.

Signposted to happen sometime in June:

Eid Al-Adha (national holiday)

AUGUST

12-15 August (Monday-Thursday): The Saudi Food Expo, Riyadh

SEPTEMBER

11-12 September (Wednesday-Thursday): The Saudi Event Show, Riyadh.

23 September (Monday): National Day (national holiday)

DECEMBER

2-13 December (Monday-Friday): Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Riyadh.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2024:

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