PIF eyes Saudia acquisition: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) is reportedly in early talks to acquire the kingdom’s national carrier Saudia as soon as next year to add it to its aviation assets portfolio, Bloomberg reports, citing sources it says have knowledge of the matter.

What we know: The ownership of the flagship airliner would be taken over by PIF from thegovernment with the intention of improving its efficiency and profitability, the sources said. The flagship carrier could be either privatized or merged with Riyadh Air — a second flagship carrier being set up by PIF, they added.

Details are scant: There is no clarity as to how Saudia would be valued by PIF, which has received government-owned assets at no payment in the past as an intermediary step towards their privatization, Bloomberg said. There are also no firm decisions as of yet, with talks still at an early stage, and it is possible that the acquisition may be put off or canceled altogether, sources told the outlet.

PIF wants Riyadh Air to be the Gulf airlines boss: The sovereign wealth fund launchedRiyadh Air in March last year in efforts to compete with regional rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways. It is set to kick off its operations next year and has a target of operating flights between 100 destinations by 2030. Saudia will also bid adieu to capital Riyadh by 2030 to make way for Riyadh Air and will instead shift its focus towards operations in Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport.

THE MARKET THIS MORNING-

Asian markets are solidly in the red this morning, with traders sitting tight ahead of interestrate decisions later today from Japan and Australia. European and US stock futures all slid overnight, suggesting that key Wall Street and continental benchmarks will follow suit later today.

ADX

9,289

+0.7% (YTD: -3.0%)

DFM

4,275

+0.3% (YTD: +5.3%)

Nasdaq Dubai UAE20

3,727

+0.7% (YTD: -3.0%)

USD : AED CBUAE

Buy 3.67

Sell 3.67

EIBOR

5.2% o/n

5.4% 1 yr

TASI

12,772

+0.1% (YTD: +6.7%)

EGX30

29,091

-6.3% (YTD: +16.9%)

S&P 500

5,149

+0.6% (YTD: +8.0%)

FTSE 100

7,723

-0.1% (YTD: -0.1%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,983

-0.1% (YTD: +10.2%)

Brent crude

USD 86.89

+1.8%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 1.72

+0.8%

Gold

USD 2,161

0.0%

BTC

USD 67,549

-1.3% (YTD: +56.8%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The DFM rose 0.3% yesterday on turnover of AED 389.6 mn. The index is up 5.4% YTD.

In the green: Al Firdous Holdings (+12.1%), Emaar Properties (+2.2%), and GFH Financial Group (+1.9%).

In the red: Orascom Construction (-7.5%), Watania International Holding (-3.2%) and Salik Company (-3.0%).

Over on the ADX, the index is up 0.7% on turnover of AED 940 mn. Meanwhile, in Nasdaq Dubai, the index closed up 0.7%.

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

E7 Group Company intends to initiate a share split and share buyback, according to an ADX disclosure (pdf), which does not disclose further details on the size of the split and buyback program. The matter will be discussed at the company’s upcoming board meeting scheduled for 25 March.

RAKBank’s board approved distributing AED 623.6 mn in dividends for 2023, equivalent to 31 fils per share, according to an ADX disclosure (pdf).

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