Major shareholders up stakes in 5 Tadawul-listed firms in Q1

Major shareholders increased their stakes in five companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) but cut their ownership in 17 firms in Q1 2017, according to data compiled by Argaam.

The market also saw two shareholders unloading their stakes.

Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries & Medical Appliances Corp. (SPIMACO) saw the largest equity increase of 0.61 percent by Amin Mohamed Shaker to 11.94 percent.

Al-Jouf Agricultural Development Co. came second, as Riyad Al-Humaidan boosted his stake in the company to 14.26 percent, a 0.25 percent increase.

Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat Group raised its stake in Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) by 0.11 percent to 27.56 percent.

For equity reduction, Saudi Cement Co. saw the steepest decline, with the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) cutting its stake in the company by 3.76 percent to 5.22 percent.

GOSI also lowered its holding in Jabal Omar Development by 0.02 percent to 9.02 percent, while the company founders cut their ownership in the developer by 0.07 percent to 15.65 percent.

Elsewhere, Khalid Al-Humaidi and Samir Al-Humaidi reduced their stakes in Saudi Company for Hardware (SACO) by 1.67 percent and 0.81 percent to 6.43 percent and 7.28 percent respectively, during the same period.

Olayan Saudi Investment Company Limited (OSICO) lowered its ownership in Alawwal Bank and Saudi British Bank (SABB) by 0.03 percent to 21.73 percent and 16.95 percent, respectively.

In Al Rajhi Bank, Awqaf Sulaiman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Rajhi Holding Co. cut its holding by 0.03 percent to 9.20 percent.

Exiting the Saudi major shareholders’ list, Olayan Financing Co. unloaded its 5.16 percent stake in Saudi International Petrochemical Co. (Sipchem), while Khalid Al-Shathri divested his 7.7 percent ownership in Al Ahsa Development Co.

In the Nomu Parallel Market, Abdulaziz Saleh Al-Omari raised his holding in Food Development Co. by 0.05 percent to 5.04 percent in Q1 2017.

Tadawul’s major shareholders’ list includes stakes exceeding five percent.