DIFC maintains leading position among global financial centers, says CEO 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index fell 13 points — or 0.12 percent — to close at 10,634.06 on Tuesday, trailing the global markets after US Federal Reserve officials issued a stark reminder that the interest rates would keep rising.

While Nasdaq composite and Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 0.63 percent and 0.78 percent, respectively, leading stock markets such as Frankfurt, Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo and India took marginal dips. The S&P 500 and FTSE 100 also edged lower by 0.08 percent and 0.26 percent, respectively.

“Saudi market witnessed marginal declines today after gains during the last two trading sessions. Performance of regional markets remained mixed as investors now wait for today’s comments from the US Fed on further rate hikes during the year,” Junaid Ansari, head of investment strategy and research at Kamco Invest, told Arab News.

However, TASI’s total trading turnover of the benchmark index on Tuesday stepped up to SR4.53 billion ($1.21 billion) from Monday’s SR4.21 billion, even as 103 stocks of the listed 223 advanced and 101 declined.

Parallel market Nomu and MSCI Tadawul 30 Index also fell 0.50 percent and 0.35 percent to wrap up at 19,207.51 and 1,478.51, respectively.

“The decline was mainly led by a 1 percent drop in the banking index that more than offset gains in 17 of 21 indices on the Saudi exchange. Bank Albilad was the sole gainer in the Banking Index with a marginal gain of 0.1 percent while the rest of the stocks declined,” said Ansari.

On the announcements front, ACWA Power Co. on Tuesday informed Tadawul that it commenced the issuance of an unlisted Saudi riyal-denominated sukuk through a private placement under its SR5 billion local sukuk program.

The utility major said that the issuance value was determined at a maximum of SR1.8 billion, and the amount and terms of the offer will be subject to market conditions, according to the bourse filing.

The company further said the issuance would begin with a minimum subscription of SR1 million.

The issuance will be for seven years, with a call option on the fifth-anniversary, subject to market conditions. The offer ends on Feb. 21, 2023. The company’s share price gained 0.5 percent to SR161.

On Tuesday, the National Co. for Learning and Education reported a 43 percent increase in net profit after zakat and tax to SR25.9 million for the quarter ending Nov. 30, 2022 from SR18.1 million in the year-ago period.

The net profit increase was due to a 43 percent year-on-year rise in revenue, which resulted mainly from a 40 percent growth in the number of students enrolled in the company’s schools to 21,600 from 15,500 in the same quarter of the previous year. NCLE’s share price rose 6.19 percent to SR78.9.

United Electronics Co. also posted an 11 percent increase in estimated net profit after zakat and tax to SR440.2 million for 2022 compared to SR396.8 million a year earlier.

According to a bourse filing, the company said higher revenues from consumer finance and eXtra services spurred its profit growth. Gross profit also grew year-on-year by 6.6 percent to SR1.261 billion, which impacted the company’s net profit growth. The company’s share price surged 6.01 percent to SR74.10.

Meanwhile, Al Moammar Information Systems Co. on Jan. 10 announced that its board of directors declared a 12 percent cash dividend, at SR1.2 per share, totaling SR 36 million, for the second half of 2022.