{"id":90535,"date":"2024-10-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2024\/10\/15\/no-delay-in-riyadh-metro-launch-al-jasser-says\/"},"modified":"2024-10-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T00:00:00","slug":"no-delay-in-riyadh-metro-launch-al-jasser-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2024\/10\/15\/no-delay-in-riyadh-metro-launch-al-jasser-says\/","title":{"rendered":"No delay in Riyadh Metro launch, Al Jasser says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.<\/strong> It\u2019s a relatively busy hump day as the second and final day of the Global Logistics Forum in Riyadh brings a slew of new agreements, while OPEC+ released its monthly oil market report. We have chapter and verse on these stories and others in this morning\u2019s news well, but first\u2026<\/p>\n

<\/a> FACT CHECK- <\/strong>We may be weeks away from Riyadh Metro\u2019s grand debut:<\/strong> The launch of the Riyadh Metro could be just around the corner, with the grand opening expected within weeks, Transport and Logistics Minister Saleh Al Jasser told Al Arabiya (watch: runtime: 12:23<\/a>). The USD 22.5 bn project is now in the final handover phase, overseen by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, the minister said. Al Jasser\u2019s remarks follow media reports earlier this week<\/a> claiming that the project\u2019s launch would be postponed to early next year.<\/p>\n

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WEATHER WARNING- Al Taif, Maysan, Adham, and Al Ardiyat in the Makkah Province, as <\/strong>well as Al Baha, Aseer, Najran, and Jazan provinces will see moderate to heavy rainfall<\/strong>, coupled with strong winds and dust storms, flash flooding, and hailstorms until Friday, according to a warning<\/a> issued by the General Directorate of Civil Defense. Meanwhile, Riyadh and the Eastern Province are expected to see light to moderate rainfall. <\/p>\n

HAPPENING TOMORROW-<\/p>\n

#1- First Avenue will begin trading on Tadawul\u2019s parallel market Nomu <\/strong>tomorrow<\/strong>, according to a Tadawul statement<\/a>. First Avenue\u2019s shares will be allowed to trade within a \u00b130% range for the first three days, before being capped at no more than 10% up or down when circuit breakers kick in, per the usual practice. The Riyadh-based real estate developer is taking to market a 8.7% stake at SAR 6 apiece<\/a>, aiming to raise some SAR 98.5 mn.<\/p>\n

#2- <\/strong>The <\/strong>three-day 6 Kings Slam event at Riyadh\u2019s <\/strong>Venue<\/a><\/strong> kicks off tomorrow, <\/strong>featuring all-star players competing for the largest purse in tennis history.<\/strong> The matches will see face offs between tennis champs Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, and Holger Rune (watch, runtime: 5:15<\/a>). The final and third-place match will be held on Saturday, 19 October. Book your tickets here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

PSAs- <\/p>\n

<\/a> #1- New employment service platform + AI open data platform from GOSI:<\/strong> The General Organization for Social Ins. (GOSI) launched an employment service linking job seekers with employers with a salary calculator included, as well as e-payment services and other offerings for contributors, retirees, employers, as part of several new e-services, according to a statement<\/a>. GOSI also rolled out an AI-powered open data platform providing users with access to statistics and insights on social insurance in the Kingdom. <\/p>\n

WATCH THIS SPACE-<\/p>\n

#1- IPO WATCH- <\/strong>Homegrown manpower provider Tamkeen HR\u2019s institutional offering sold out within hours of opening on Sunday, having booked enough bids to fully cover the IPO\u2019s largest tranche, Bloomberg<\/a> reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The institutional window will run until this Thursday, 17 October, with the two-day retail subscription scheduled to kick off on Tuesday, 5 November. Tamkeen is taking a 30% stake to Tadawul\u2019s main market<\/a>, which could see it raise up to SAR 397.5 mn in IPO proceeds.<\/p>\n

<\/a> #2- <\/strong>Saudi Post is on track to launch the design phase of what\u2019s touted to be the region\u2019s<\/strong> largest \u201csuper sorting center\u201d <\/strong>early next year<\/strong>, Saudi Post President Anef Abanomai tells Arab News<\/a>. The potential center is set to feature a fully-automated, robotics-based system, marking a major upgrade from traditional manual sorting techniques, aimed at boosting productivity, lowering costs and cutting down delivery duration, he added. No further information was disclosed. <\/p>\n

#3- <\/strong>French firms eyeing Saudi cybersecurity market: <\/strong>A group of 25 unnamed French cybersecurity companies are reportedly looking to secure major partnerships with King Salman Park, Diriyah Development Authority, General Entertainment Authority, and Qiddiya, to revamp the Kingdom\u2019s IT infrastructure, Asharq Al Awsat<\/a> quotes Director of Business France Saudi Arabia, Rachid Bouloin as saying. <\/p>\n

<\/a> #4- Test flights for the eVTOL aircrafts Saudi Airlines purchased from Germany\u2019s<\/strong> Lilium<\/a><\/strong> are set for February 2025<\/strong>, a Saudi Airlines spokesperson told Asharq Al Awsat<\/a>. The tests will be followed by training pilots and developing infrastructure until deliveries begin to trickle in by 2H 2026, spokesperson Abdullah Al Shahrani said during the Global Logistics Forum in Riyadh. Delivery of the entire fleet will take over six years, Al Shahrani added. <\/p>\n

ICYMI- Saudi Airlines is getting 100 eVTOLs: <\/strong>The company finalized an agreement<\/a> with Lilium in July to purchase 100 eVTOL aircraft. This transaction includes 50 confirmed orders and 50 optional ones, with the first deliveries expected in 4Q 2026. <\/p>\n

A maintenance agreement is also in the works: <\/strong>Saudi Airlines is scheduled to sign a deal with Lilium\u2019s customer service organization Lilium POWER-ON for aircraft fleet maintenance and other support services. <\/p>\n

DATA POINTS-<\/p>\n

#1- The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) rose 0.3% w-o-w<\/strong>, with SAR 34.7 bn in turnover by the end of last week, according to a weekly report<\/a> from the exchange.<\/p>\n

Al Majed Oud saw the largest increase over the week with its shares increasing 78.7% in<\/strong> the WTD<\/strong> and also saw the highest trading volumes at SAR 2.5 bn. Saudi Aramco came in a close second at SAR 2 bn in trade volumes and no change to share value. Al Rajhi secured the third spot at SAR 1.9 bn in trading volumes, with its shares rising 1.6%.<\/p>\n

IN CONTEXT- <\/strong>Saudi individual investors traded SAR 42.2 bn worth of shares while turnover among Saudi institutional investors came in at SAR 9.5 bn. Meanwhile, qualified foreign investors traded SAR 15.1 bn worth of shares, and GCC institutional investors traded SAR 717.7 mn, according to Tadawul\u2019s weekly stock market ownership and trading activity report (pdf)<\/a>. <\/p>\n

#2- <\/strong>The Social Development Bank provided SAR 1.5 bn in business financing to upwards<\/strong> of 18k citizens<\/strong> in 3Q 2024<\/strong>, according to state news agency SPA<\/a>. The funds were distributed to freelancers and family business ventures (SAR 702 mn), SMEs (SAR 465 mn) and social financing initiatives (SAR 378 mn).<\/p>\n

CAPITAL MARKETS- <\/p>\n

Palestine-based brokerage <\/strong>Securities Co. (USC)<\/a><\/strong> added Aramco to its watchlist, assigning<\/strong> the oil giant\u2019s shares a \u201cbuy\u201d recommendation<\/strong>, at a target share price of SAR 30, according to a report seen by Mubasher<\/a>. The only downside risk USC points to is a sharper-than-expected drop in crude prices. <\/p>\n

ICYMI-<\/strong> BMI outlined three scenarios<\/a> for the outlook on Brent crude prices, depending on how rising regional tensions play out. <\/p>\n

The medium-term outlook: <\/strong>USC forecasted that Aramco\u2019s bottom line will drop 7.3% y-o-y to SAR 420 bn in 2024, and SAR 403 bn in the next year, before climbing back up to SAR 410 in 2026. It also expects revenues to slightly dip y-o-y for the next two years \u2014 after inching up 1.3% y-o-y to SAR 1.675 tn this year, only to slip again to SAR 1.668 tn in 2026.<\/p>\n

What they said:<\/strong> \u201cWe view Aramco's strong position in the oil and gas industry positively, driven by its access to a robust reserve base, low operating costs, growth potential in the downstream sector, and opportunities for gains in gas operations,\u201d USC said. <\/p>\n

REMEMBER- <\/strong>The government counts on Aramco dividends to bridge the budget deficit and to finance the economy\u2019s diversification away from oil, with oil activities accounting for some 67% of government revenues at present. The company\u2019s dividends pushed the Saudi Central Bank\u2019s foreign reserves to an 18-month high of SAR 1.67 tn in May<\/a>. Saudi Arabia\u2019s government owns 97% of Aramco.<\/p>\n

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD- <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a busier-than-usual Tuesday in the international press<\/strong>, so let\u2019s jump right in with no further preamble:<\/p>\n

#1- Canada expelled five Indian diplomats (including New Delhi\u2019s high commissioner to <\/strong>Ottawa), prompting India to PNG six Canadians just hours later <\/strong>as a diplomatic rift between the two deepened. Canada\u2019s soon-to-depart charge d'affaires in New Delhi said \u201cCanada has provided credible, irrefutable evidence of ties between agents of the government of India and a murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.\u201d The story leads front pages on both sides of the Atlantic (New York Times<\/a> | Financial Times<\/a> | Reuters<\/a> | BBC<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Further reading: <\/strong>How geopolitics caught up with Canada<\/a> in the FT.<\/p>\n

#2- The price of oil dipped nearly 3% overnight after a <\/strong>Washington Post<\/a><\/strong> report that Israel <\/strong>will not target Iran\u2019s oil infrastructure <\/strong>in retaliation for Tehran\u2019s 1 October missile strike. Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have told the White House Israel will attack only \u201cmilitary targets.\u201d<\/p>\n

MEANWHILE- Israel killed at least 21 people in an airstrike <\/strong>on northern Lebanon, BBC<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

#3- Britain is prioritizing trade talks with GCC countries and India<\/strong>, the UK\u2019s Business and Trade minister said yesterday<\/a>. Talks between Britain and the GCC countries are set to resume next week, he said. Reynolds was in our part of the world last month to kickstart the talks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

#4- And the Nobel goes to\u2026 <\/strong>Three researchers who have focused on how colonial legacies impacted the relative prosperity of colonized countries shared the 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. \u201cTheir research also indicates that more economically inclusive and politically democratic systems prove more conducive to technological innovation and long-run growth,\u201d the FT<\/a> noted. Check out the original announcement here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

OTHER NEWS worth knowing about on this busy morning:<\/strong><\/p>\n