Sullivan leads White House delegation to Saudi today, with normalization on the agenda

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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Sullivan and other top White House officials in town today for normalization talks –Axios

Good morning, friends, and happy hump day. We bring you a relatively quiet day for news — and have taken advantage of a slow day to put together a couple of explainers for you: One is an overview of the Kingdom’s top gigaprojects, another on “backwardation.”

MEANWHILE- White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan is due in Saudi today to meet with Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohamed bin Salman, Axios reports in an exclusive out early this morning. Sullivan will be joined by Brett McGurk, the top White House Middle East envoy, and senior energy advisor Amos Hochstein

On the agenda: “A potential mega-deal that would include Saudi normalization with Israel” as part of a series of agreements that would include a US-Saudi defense pact, the news outlet reports. A nuclear agreement could also be part of it.

IN CONTEXT- Saudi officials have made clear that there will be no normalization without an agreement with the US and Israel on an irreversible commitment on the recognition of a viable Palestinian state.

The over / under: “Many in the White House think the Saudi mega-deal is a pipe dream, citing the war in Gaza, Netanyahu’s dependence on his radical right-wing coalition partners, and US domestic politics,” writes Axios.

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Reading us this morning in Riyadh? You might want to leave for work a bit early this morning — and grab an umbrella when you do. The weather forecast calls for a reasonable chance of showers early this morning with the possibility of isolated thunderstorms. Look for cloudy skies this afternoon with a muggy high of 29°C and a low overnight of 19°C.

It’s more of the same in Taif, though rainfall will be more modest and AlUla is looking at periods of light rain throughout the day today.

** So, when do we eat? Maghrib prayers are at 6:11 pm in the capital city, and you’ll have until 4:24 am tomorrow to hydrate and caffeinate ahead of fajr. Today is day 23 of Ramadan.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Custom duty exemptions for a wider range of manufacturing inputs went into effect yesterday in a bid to make life easier for manufacturers, the Industry and Mineral Resources Ministry said in a post on Linkedin. The waiver program now includes imports of many forms of raw materials, finished and semi-finished goods, packaging materials, machinery, equipment, and spare parts that are directly used in manufacturing, according to the ministry.

Manufacturers can apply for the exemptions through the ministry’s website. All you need is a valid industrial license, commercial registration number, and a handful of other supporting documents.

#2- Tadawul briefly stopped trading in the shares of six Tadawul-listed companies and two Nomu-listed firms for failing to report their 2023 results on time, it said in a statement.

The exchange suspended trading yesterday of the eight companies. They’ll trade normally today and have until Monday, 6 May to make good on their disclosure requirements. Companies that fail to release their FY 2023 results by then will see trading of their shares suspended until they set things right.

#3- Kindergarten and nursery operators will face new licensing requirements, the Education Minister said in a statement yesterday. The updated requirements include obtaining a commercial register and approvals from the Municipal and Rural Affairs Ministry and General Directorate of Civil Defense. The rules will require nurseries agreeing as a condition of licensing not to add new programs or to extend their course offering past the nursery stage.

PSA-

Property owners in five Riyadh neighborhoods can now register their assets: The Real Estate General Authority (REGA) is asking the owners of some 25.7k properties in Al Hada, Al Shola, Al Fursan, and Al Nokhba and areas of Sedra to register their properties in the real estate registry (RER), according to a statement. The rollout the latest in REGA's rollout of the national registry. Registration opened on Sunday, 31 March, and will run Tuesday, 4 July.

The RER is wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund and aims to establish a real estate registry across the Kingdom to make it easier for individuals and corporations to know who has a clear title to a property when buying or selling.

OIL WATCH-

#1- Oil production by Opec countries dropped in March on the back of lower output from Iraq and Nigeria, a Reuters survey showed yesterday. The group saw production down 50k barrels per day (bpd) to 26.4 mn bpd last month. Iraq had pledged to slash output last month after it pumped above OPEC’s target, while Nigeria’s output was down as exports dropped. Saudi, Kuwait and UAE maintained output close to voluntary curbs that will remain in effect through June 2024.

Keep an eye out for an Opec+ panel tomorrow. The panel will review production by oil-exporting members and isn’t expected to result in any changes to output policy ahead of next Opec+ meeting scheduled for Saturday, 1 June 2024.

#2- Aramco to hike by USD 0.20-0.50 per barrel the selling price of crude oil to Asia in May 2024, Reuters reports, citing six unnamed industry sources. The relatively modest price hikes will hit extra-light, light, medium, and heavy grades.

The oil market is in backwardation: The potential uptick in official selling prices follows the ongoing market backwardation structure where spot prices higher than futures prices, suggesting scarcity of supply.A crunch in supply for medium and heavy grade crude on the back of oilfield maintenance in the Kingdom, coupled with OPEC+ commitments to cut output, points to higher May prices, the newswire writes.

Background: OPEC — whose figures showed global demand hitting a record 102 mn bpd in 2023 — sees demand growing for at least the next two decades.

Go deeper: We have an explainer in this morning’s news well, below, on the concept of backwardation.

SPORTS-

⚽ What happened in the Saudi Pro League yesterday. It was matchday 26 of 34.

Al Ahli Saudi vs. Al Ittihad (1-0).
Al Hazm vs. Damak (0-0);
Al Khaleej vs. Al Raed (1-0);

Here are the fixtures for tonight’s SPL matches (all scheduled for 10 pm local time):

Al Hilal vs. Al Akhdoud;
Abha vs. Al Nassr;
Al Feiha vs. Al Wehda;
Al Tai vs. Al Taawoun.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking is coming to Saudi and Oman this week to push for an immediate halt of Houthi attacks on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, according to a statement by the US State Department yesterday. The statement said Lenderking will meet with Saudi and Omani officials to discuss means both the Houthi situation and peace talks on Yemen.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

#1- The UK and US have inked what policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic are positioning as a “landmark” AI agreement, formally laying out how they will work together to assess risks from AI models. Calling AI “the defining technology of our generation,” US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said the agreement will help keep “AI safe both now and in the future.”

Is joint regulation next? That’s the dream of AI doomers — and the nightmare of AI boomers, who are chafing at US, UK and EU regulators having recently taken a much more hands-on approach to Big Tech than at any point in the past three decades.

Read for yourself: Check out the announcement of the US-UK AI agreement, or go deeper with Time (it interviewed Michelle Donelan, the UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology) or the Financial Times.

SPEAKING OF REGULATION- Microsoft will start selling Teams separately from Office as it worries about antitrust legislation, Reuters notes. The regulators began looking into Teams when it set out in 2020 to kill Slack, the popular workplace messaging app.

#2- Israeli warplanes bombed Iran’s embassy in Syria yesterday, killing seven Iranian military advisors. The Saudi Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, state news agency SPA reported yesterday.

AND- Tens of thousands of Israelis turned out to protest Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend and call for new elections. It was the “largest anti-government protest since the war in Gaza began,” Semafor notes.

SIGN OF THE TIMES- How Gen Z is becoming the toolbelt generation, in the Wall Street Journal, which notes that in the United States, “more young workers are going into trades as disenchantment with the college track continues, and rising pay and new technologies shine up plumbing and electrical jobs.”

Gen X did it first: Go read Matthew Crawford ’s Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work.

PIF’s cybersecurity champion Site is doing a joint venture with Korea’s AhnLab

PIF’s Site + Korea’s AhnLab are setting up a cybersecurity joint venture in the Kingdom: Saudi Information Technology (Site) — a wholly owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) — signed an agreement with South Korean IT solutions provider AhnLab to establish a cybersecurity joint venture, the two said in a joint statement yesterday. They’re looking to market cybersecurity solutions to government agencies and the private sector in Saudi and across the region and into North Africa.

Who owns what? PIF cybersecurity champion Site will hold a 75% stake, while AhnLab hold 25%. The Saudi-headquartered JV should start operations in the first half of this year.

Localization is the name of the game: The JV will focus on localizing a suite of network security products, including AhnLab’s cloud and AI-based cybersecurity threat analysis package.

Site Ventures is also buying a 10% stake in AhnLab: Site Ventures, a wholly owned unit of Site, will acquire a stake in the Seoul-based firm through a KRW 74.4 bn (c. USD 55.3 mn) capital injection on 27 June, according to the statement.

What they said: “This new joint venture is one of many ambitious investments that Site is developing. We recognize our strategic role to localize top-tier cybersecurity technologies in our country and the region as a whole,” Site CEO Saad Al-Aboodi said.

About Ahnlab: Founded in 1995 Seoul, the Kosdaq-listed company offers antivirus software, mobile security, online financial transaction protection, and consulting services to customers ranging from SMEs to global enterprises and governments.

IN CONTEXT: Saudi has been upping its cybersecurity game: Cyberani, a subsidiary of Aramco, recently partnered with French defense electronics provider Thales to bolster local digital infrastructure for cybersecurity, according to a statement.

Saudi has multiple multi-bn USD construction projects in the pipeline — it’s all part of an ambitious economic diversification program

From Neom to Diriyah Gate — gigaprojects are changing the face of the Kingdom and creating significant opportunity for the private sector as a cornerstone of Saudi’s pivot away from oil.

Are all of the announcements making your head spin? Here’s a primer to help you get oriented:

#1- Neom is the crown jewel with a price tag of USD 500 bn, placing it comfortably as the most expensive construction and infrastructure project in the world, according to Construction Briefing. Neom’s flagship project, The Line, will alone cost anywhere between USD 100 bn to 200 bn. The futuristic project plans to run purely on renewable energy and accommodate 9 mn people in a 34 sq km area. “We’ve done a lot of the foundation work, literally and figuratively. We are ready to go,” The Line Chief Development Officer Denis Hickey said in a February progress report.

#2- Next on the list: Diriyah: Diriyah Gate, another PIF development, was launched to develop the UNESCO World Heritage site that was the ancestral home of the royal family at a cost of USD 63 bn. Its developer, the Diriyah Gate Development Authority, invested USD 7.5 bn in 2022 to set up infrastructure for the project, which will be home to multiple hotels and residential properties as well as entertainment including a Formula-E race track. (Diriyah was host of a 2024 E-Prix in January.)

#3- AlUla is being developed into a SAR 57 bn tourism destination, with some 9k hotel rooms, 38k new jobs, and a SAR 120 bn (USD 32 bn) annual contribution to GDP by 2035, the destination’s slated date for completion. So far, SAR 7.5 bn has been spent on “the expansion of AlUla International Airport … developing key tourism assets, including Ashar estate and the iconic Maraya multi-purpose events venue,” according to the the Royal Commission for AlUla.

#4- New Murabba: The USD 50 bn 19 km downtown is anticipated to include over 104k residential units, 9k-keys hotel, and a range of supplementary amenities in the Northwest region of Riyadh, featuring a tech and design university, a museum, along with other cultural venues. New Murabbah is a 20 minute drive from King Khalid International Airport and will be home to a skyscraper that developers say will become an “iconic” feature of the Riyadh skyline. The new venture is expected to inject SAR 180 bn into the Kingdom's non-oil economy, while also generating 334k jobs by 2030.

Alo in Riyadh: King Salman Park, a green, pedestrian-friendly destination that will be home to office space, the Royal Institute of Traditional Arts, the Museum of World Cultures, a 2.3k-seat National Theater, meeting space, and world-class sports facilities, among other features. It has awarded bns of SAR worth of construction contracts.

#5- Your next favorite entertainment destination: Qiddiya. Spearheaded by the PIF’s Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC), the multi-bn USD development aims to become the world’s largest entertainment hub. The district will be home to the world’s first-ever Dragon Ball themed park, a Six Flags theme park, and a multi-use stadium where it plans to host major sports, cultural and entertainment events, including games at the 2034 Fifa World Cup. The destination will also be home to the world’s first gaming and esports district.

#6- And Red Sea destination: The PIF-backed Red Sea Global is also working on its portfolio, which includes the Red Sea, Amaala and Thuwal at a cost of USD 20 bn. In 2023, RSG opened two destinations — Six Senses Southern Dunes and St. Regis The Red Sea Resort — and will open a further 24 resorts and add 4.2k keys this year, its CEO John Pagano told AGBI. The Red Sea Developer has spent USD 5 bn so far, and will pour an additional USD 15 bn this year, he said.

Not just any sustainable city: The project, which is estimated to contribute USD 9 bn to the Kingdom’s GDP, looks beyond being just a sustainable city. “Sustainability is no longer enough, so we've moved away from sustainability. We talk about regenerative development, we try to make the place better than when we found it,” Pagano said in an interview last year.

Set to welcome international visitors soon: The Red Sea International Airport (RSI) will receive its first international flight this month in a new twice-weekly route linking Dubai International (DXB) to RSI. State-owned airline Saudia has been running domestic flights to RSI since September 2023.

#7- Masar: the 1.2 mn sqm strip in Makkah leading to the Grand Mosque will boast of hotels, retail, and residential and office space. Construction is 25% complete, with SAR 40 bn in investments already deployed.

#8- Oxagon (AKA Neom’s industrial city): A floating port city located near the Suez Canal, will serve as a logistics and industrial center, creating 90k jobs by 2030. Its talked-up port is expected to have a capacity of over 1.5 mn containers by 2025, CEO Vishal Wanchoo told Asharq Al-Awsat. The first phase of construction for its first permanent residential compound is slated to start in 2026, Wanchoo added.

PAYING FOR IT ALL- The government will need to line up USD 640 bn to fund its construction pipeline, just for the next 5 years, squeezing local lenders for USD 384 bn if they are to take up 60% of the pipeline, Bloomberg reports, citing data compiled by Dubai-based analysis firm MEED.

Decoding backwardation: The basics of spot prices and futures contracts

Backwardation is old hat to people who work or play in the commodities market (especially those who focus on oil, grains, and precious metals), but totally alien to normals. Let’s fix that.

The bottomline: Backwardation happens when the current or spot price of a commodity — such as the Kingdom’s flagship Arab light crude oil — is higher than the price for future delivery (aka: future contracts). Picture this: If you are in the market for a barrel of oil, it could cost you more than if you agreed to buy it and receive a few months down the road.

BUT FIRST- Spot price vs. future contracts: The spot price is the current price of a commodity, like oil or wheat, at this very moment if you were to buy or sell it on the spot. It's like the price tag on an item in a store. Future contracts, on the other hand, are agreements to buy or sell an asset class at a predetermined price on a specific future date. Think of it like making a reservation to buy or sell something at a set price in the future, regardless of whether the price goes up or down.

In simple terms: While the spot price tells you what something is worth right now, future contracts allow sellers and buyers to lock in prices for later, hedging against future volatility. Sellers buy futures to hedge against future price drops, while buyers buy futures to hedge against future price raises. And finance types look to get in on it so make a buck if they call the direction or price right.

Backwardation leaves the door ajar for short selling: Speculators sometimes wager on the future decline of some asset classes by borrowing an asset at its current price and selling it, only to buy it back later at a lower price and return it to the owner to make the difference after paying a fee to the lender. It’s highly risky for non-professionals considering that in case the price doesn’t go lower, the trader makes a loss.

Back to basics: It’s all about the economic 101 duo of supply vs. demand. If there’s a shortage of a particular commodity or if demand spikes suddenly, the price for immediate delivery can rise above future prices. Imagine a scenario where oilfields in a major oil exporter are under maintenance, leading to a scarcity on the market, or if bad weather damages a wheat crop causing a drop in supply. Traders anticipate this scarcity, leading to higher prices for immediate delivery compared to futures contracts. Market sentiment, and speculation are other factors that play a role in the level of backwardation a market can experience.

ON THE FLIPSIDE OF THE COIN- There’s also forwardation (AKA contango): If market participants expect the supply of a particular asset class to rise above the demand level in the next few months or years, then the price of futures will be higher than prices for immediate delivery. High storage costs and market sentiment about future geo-political events are amongst factors that could contribute to a spike in the price of futures.

Media giant SRMG reports FY 2023 results

Saudi Research and Media Group’s (SRMG) net income fell 14% y-o-y to SAR 560 mn in FY 2023, according to its latest earnings release (pdf). Meanwhile, revenues grew 1% y-o-y to SAR 3.7 bn.

Dive deep: The integrated media company attributed the drop in net income during the year to losses by the Saudi Printing and Packaging Company (SPPC), of which SRMG owns a majority 70% stake. The SPPC reported a net loss of SAR 132 mn, including a goodwill impairment of SAR 35 mn.

Key highlights: SRMG highlighted some achievements across its media portfolio, including launching free-to-air factual Arabic documentary platform Asharq Documentary and Asharq Discovery with Warner Bros. It also launched Asharq Podcasts and Radio Asharq with Bloomberg as it taps into audio content. It also rolled out a new platform for Asharq Al Awsat, helping raise readership by 49% y-o-y in the second half of 2023. Its podcast platform Thmanyah hit 275 mn listeners last year, it said.

What they said: “2023 was a landmark year for SRMG, marked by significant achievements as we continued to successfully execute our transformation strategy and further cement our position as the region’s largest integrated media group. Over the past 12 months, we broadened our news, content, and infotainment offering, drove dynamic growth in our existing and new business verticals, and fortified our internal capabilities and knowledge base,” SRMG CEO Jomana Al Rashid said.

Check out SRMG’s 2023 annual report here (pdf).

Seera appoints Al Waleed Al Nasser as acting CEO

Travel giant Seera names acting CEO: Seera Group Holding has appointed Al Waleed bin Abdelaziz Al Nasser (bio) as its new acting CEO, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. Al Nasser has been serving as the company’s Vice President since 2016. He holds over 20 years of experience with several managerial positions at several local firms.

Seera separately reappointed Mohammed bin Saleh Al Khalil (bio) as chairman. He sits on the board of a diverse range of companies, including Altayyar, Alujain, Tatweer Buildings, Cementra Cement and others.

Seera is a big player in the travel and tourism industry, holding car rental outfit Lumi, travel player Almosafer, and hotels in Jeddah, Riyadh, and Makkah.

The GCC’s mining push in the spotlight

The Financial Times is the latest to look at GCC countries’ mining push, as the countries look to diversify their economies away from fossil fuels.

Who’s doing what? Saudi Arabia is working to raise the mining sector’s share of GDP to USD 75 bn by 2035 from USD 17 bn currently, while the UAE is pursuing a host of government-to-government partnerships in minerals with a focus on Africa. Oman has started building what is expected to be the world’s largest green steel plant, with plans to use iron ore from Cameroon. And Qatari wealth fund QIA has snapped up a sizable stake in Swiss commodities and mining giant Glencore.

“The region has huge potential to create a major mining industry,” the salmon-color paper quotes Tom Harley, managing director of mining advisory Dragoman, as saying.

Emaar, The Economic City reschedules PIF’s USD 1 bn loan. Plus: capital markets, commodities and healthcare

DEBT WATCH-

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) has agreed to reschedule a loan of up to SAR 1 bn forEmaar, The Economic City (EEC), the real estate developer said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. The loan’s term was extended from 18 months ending in August of this year to 21 months ending in November. The rescheduling will help “provide additional support and runway for the company to evaluate repayment or settlement alternatives for the facility,” it said. The PIF holds a 25% stake in EEC, which is linked to Dubai’s real estate property giant Emaar.

CAPITAL MARKETS-

Tadawul’s benchmark index TASI wraps 1Q 2024 on a high note: TASI gained 3.6% q-o-q4Q 2023, marking its highest quarterly close in two years, according to data seen by Argaam. Meanwhile,NomuC — the exchange’s capped index — was up 6.5% YTD at yesterday’s close.

COMMODITIES-

GFSA buys wheat in the first tender of 2024: The General Food Security Authority (GFSA) purchased 795k tons of wheat in its first tender of the year, state news agency SPA reported yesterday. The wheat shipments — sourced from the European Union, Black Sea, North and South America, and Australia — are set to arrive here between June and July.

HEALTHCARE-

Healthcare company Bioniq lands in town: London-based healthcare firm and personalized supplement maker Bioniq launched a strategic partnership with local diagnostic health provider Al Borg Diagnostics, paving the way for its entry to the Kingdom, according to a statement by Bioniq yesterday. The partnership will see Bioniq make its comprehensive blood test panel available to consumers in 28 cities, including Riyadh, Jeddah and others. Consumers will also have an option to get a personalized supplement formula by Bioniq after the completion of a 50-parameter blood test.

PRIVATE EQUITY-

Al Moammar Information Systems moves forward with SFC data centers: Al Moammar Information Systems (MIS) has obtained 6.6 mn units at a value of SAR 66 mn for data centers it is setting up for Saudi Fransi Capital (SFC), it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. These will be the first units installed at the six planned data centers.

ELECTRICITY-

Electrical Industries Company to supply electrical equipment to SEC: Electrical Industries Company (EIC)’s subsidiaries Wescosa and Saudi Transformers signed a SAR 158 mn contract to supply electrical equipment to the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), it said in a disclosure to Tadawul.

LOCALIZATION-

The Federation of Saudi Chambers is out with a new national committee for military industries, which marks the first time a military-focused committee is formed under the private sector, state news agency SPA reported last week. The committee will work with the General Authority for Military Industries (Gami) and PIF military champion Sami to boost the private sector’s role in military industries and manage increasing investments, its newly appointed Chairman Salman bin Nasser Al Shatri told Asharq Al Awsat.

LABOR-

The government-affiliated National Center for Non-Profit Sector (NCNPS) launched a new platform aimed at improving the quality of vocational training in the non-profit sector, state news agency SPA reported yesterday. The “Sdeem” platform will provide three programs: one for training CEOs in management, another for developmental projects, and a third program for human resources.

LOGISTICS-

A new shipping service at Jeddah Islamic Port: The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) has added a new shipping service — NRS by Folk Maritime — to its Jeddah Islamic Port to boost connectivity along ports in the North Sea, according to a statement earlier this week. The new service, which will offer a capacity of up to 1.3k TEUs, will link Jeddah Islamic Port to Yanbu Commercial Port, Neom Port, Jordan’s Aqaba Port and Egypt’s Sokhna Port.

The S&P 500 now has a Fab Four

Are the Magnificent Seven now the Fab Four? Apple, Tesla, and Alphabet shares have all sputtered in the first three months of the year, but the S&P 500 still turned in its best Q1 since before covid-19 became a household word. Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon have left the other three behind, with some analysts now dubbing them the Fab Four as their share prices keep appreciating, the Wall Street Journal notes.

SIGN OF THE TIMES #1- Everyone from Citadel’s Ken Griffin to Bloomberg Economics is raising flags that US borrowing is “on an unsustainable path.”

SIGN OF THE TIMES #2- Donald Trump’s media company lost 20% of its value yesterday as “the fervor around the company’s debut on public markets last week appeared to subside.” The New York Times goes deeper into why the valuation still — like much of US politics right now — just doesn’t make sense.

(Speaking of Trump: He posted a USD 175 mn bond yesterday in a civil case, narrowly avoiding the seizure of some of his assets.)

MEANWHILE- The bloom is still off the rose for venture capital, where institutional investor interest peaked in 2021, about a year before the US Federal Reserve took the wind out of the asset class’ sails with the first of a series of interest rate hikes. The lastest sign: New York’s Tiger Global raised just USD 2.2 bn for its sixteenth fund. It had aimed to raise USD 6 bn when it started lining up commitments from limited partners in late 2022.

AND- Carmakers and industry analysts are worrying that the global slowdown in demand for electric vehicles could be more than a blip. “If prices do not fall, or legitimate [consumer] concerns over charging infrastructure are not met, motorists may resist indefinitely. The implications of the second are potentially concerning. Meeting long-term decarbonisation targets without removing all petrol and diesel cars from the roads is impossible,” notes the Financial Times ’ Peter Campbell in an Insider Business column. Will politicians look to use other levers to stimulate demand, from higher fuel prices to sharp taxes on petrol-powered cars?

THE MARKET THIS MORNING-

Major Asian benchmarks are in the green in early trading this morning, with the Hang Seng constituent Xiaomi leading gainers. The smartphone maker wowed fans and critics alike with the launch of SU7 EV, selling out its full 2024 production run in less than two days. European stock futures are up slightly this morning and US futures are in the red.

	TASI	12,423	+0.2% (YTD + 3.8%)
	MSCI Tadawul 30	1,576	-0.3% (YTD: +1.7%)
UP	NomuC	26,181	+0.6% (YTD: +6.7%)
	USD : SAR (SAMA)	3.75 Sell	3.75 Buy
	Interest rates	6.5% repo	5.5% reverse repo
	EGX30	28,297	+5.3% (YTD: +13.7%)
	ADX	9,245	+0.2% (YTD: -3.5%)
	DFM	4,263	+0.4% (YTD: +5%)
	S&P 500	5,244	-0.2% (YTD: +9.9%)
	FTSE 100	7,953	+0.3% (YTD: +2.8%)
	Euro Stoxx 50	5,083	+0.03% (YTD: +12.4%)
	Brent crude	USD 87.8	+0.97%
	Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 1.8	+4.2%
	Gold	USD 2,251	+0.97%
	BTC	USD 68,318	-3.8% (YTD: +63%)

THE CLOSING BELL: TADAWUL-

The TASI rose 0.2% yesterday on turnover of SAR 7 bn. The index is up 3.8% YTD.

In the green: Middle East Paper Company (Mepco) (+10%), National Co for Learning (+10%) and Acwa Power (+7%).

In the red: Saudi German Health (-10%), Zamil Industrial (-10%) and Cenomi Retail (-10%).

THE CLOSING BELL: NOMU-

The NomuC rose 0.6% yesterday on turnover of SAR 37.4 mn. The index is up 6.7% YTD.

In the green: Marble Design (+8%), Burgerizzr (+6.9%) and Intelligent Oud Company for Trading (+6.8%).

In the red: Fad International Company (Fad) (-17.5%), Lana Medical (-9.4%) and Saudi Parts Center (-6.8%).

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

#1- Our friends at Cenomi Centers will begin rolling out their 2H 2023 dividend payout of SAR 356.3 mn at SAR 0.75 per share on Tuesday, 16 April, it said in a filing to Tadawul.

REMEMBER: The lifestyle destinations operator and developer has approved a dividend policy which will see it pay SAR 0.38 per share on a quarterly basis for one year starting 2Q 2024.

#2- Nomu-listed Atlas Elevators’s BoD has recommended a dividend payout of SAR 3 mn at SAR 0.5 per share for 2023, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul.

#3- Nomu-listed Al Modawat Specialized Medical’s BoD has recommended a dividend payout of SAR 16.6 mn at SAR 7 per share for 2023, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul.

#4- BinDawood’s BoD approved a 2 mn share buyback, to be allocated to its employee stock ownership program, according to its extraordinary general assembly meeting agenda (pdf).

#5- The Capital Market Authority (CMA) revoked a license granted to Riyadh-based asset manager Dirham Capital for failure to meet “fit and proper” requirements to run investment management, fund operations, and securities advisory operations, according to a statement by the CMA. The license, which was granted to the firm in 2021, was suspended in August 2022.

CALENDAR

APRIL

8-11 April (Monday-Thursday): Saudi Super Cup, Abu Dhabi.

10 April (Wednesday): Eid al-Fitr

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

16 April (Tuesday): FEI World Cup Equestrian, Riyadh.

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

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

MAY

2-5 May (Thursday-Sunday): Townhall Expo, Riyadh.

6-9 May (Monday-Thursday): Saudi Smart Manufacturing, Riyadh.

6-9 May (Monday-Thursday): Saudi Smart Logistics, Riyadh.

9-11 May (Thursday-Saturday): The Icon Show, Jeddah.

13-15 May (Monday-Wednesday): Smart Future Expo, Riyadh.

13 May (Monday): Saudi Giga Projects, Riyadh.

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

20-21 May (Monday-Tuesday): Future Projects Forum, Four Seasons Hotel, 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

4-7 June (Tuesday-Friday): Saudi Sports Show, Riyadh.

4-7 June (Tuesday-Friday): Aqarat Expo, Riyadh.

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.

17-19 September (Tuesday-Thursday): EV Auto Show, Riyadh.

24-26 September (Tuesday-Thursday) Saudi Infrastructure Expo, Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center, Riyadh.

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

NOVEMBER

26-28 November (Tuesday-Thursday): Saudi Electricity Expo, Riyadh.

11-14 November (Monday-Thursday): Cityscape Global, Riyadh.

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:

The AFC Champions League Elite

2025

FEBRUARY

10-13 February (Monday-Thursday): Leap 2025, the Kingdom’s premier tech investment conference

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