8 things you need to know on Tadawul today

Here are a few things you need to know as Saudi stocks start trading on Thursday.

1) Al Rajhi Bank’s board of directors has recommended a 15 percent cash dividend to be issued at the rate of SAR 1.5 per share for the first half of 2017.

2) Arriyadh Development Co. posted a net profit of SAR 45.3 million for Q2 2017, down 66 percent year-on-year (YoY). The company’s board of directors has recommended cash dividend of SAR 0.5 per share (total of SAR 66.66 million) for H1 2017.

3) Ash-Sharqiyah Development Co. has terminated a SAR 28.5 million contract signed in December 2015 to supply fresh milk to a local company, after the customer stopped purchasing orders for more than six consecutive months.

4) Qassim Cement Co. said on Wednesday that one worker was killed and two others injured after an accident occurred during maintenance at a heating unit in its first production line.

5) Saudi Steel Pipe Co.’s (SSP) production capacity is sufficient to meet the needs of state-run Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) under the newly-awarded contract, SSP chief executive Hisham Al-Hamili said.

6) Bank loans issued to Saudi Arabia’s private sector and public, non-financial institutions slipped 1 percent YoY to SAR 1.47 trillion in May, according to Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority.

7) Saudi Arabia is planning to reduce its August crude oil exports by over 600,000 barrels per day to the lowest level this year at around 6.6 million bbl, Reuters reported.

8) Oil prices were slightly lower on Thursday. Brent crude was last down 0.1 percent at $47.68/bbl and WTI crude fell 0.2 percent to $45.42/bbl. OPEC in its latest monthly report said its output increased by 393,000 barrels per day in June compared to the previous month.

Write to Nadeshda Zareen at nadeshda.zareen@argaamplus.com