10 things to consider as Tadawul starts trading

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

1) Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) reported a net profit of SAR 3.7 billion in Q4 2017, down nearly 19 percent year-on-year (YoY) due to lower production and sale.

Earlier, SABIC had said it acquired 24.99 percent stake in Switzerland-based specialty chemicals producer Clariant AG.

2) Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) posted a net profit of SAR 10.174 billion for fiscal year 2017, a 14 percent growth YoY.

Separately, the telecom firm said it will pay a 10 percent cash dividend, to be issued at SAR 1 per share, for Q4 2017.

3) Tronox Limited has filed legal complaint against the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over blocking its planned acquisition of the titanium dioxide business of Cristal, which is a 79 percent subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Tasnee.

4) Riyad REIT is planning to launch a SAR 1 billion sukuk program to finance its growth strategy and expand asset base.

5) Saudi Industrial Export Co. (SIECO) will deposit SAR 115,909 in proceeds from its fractional share sale in shareholders’ portfolios on February 1.

6) Maaden Phosphate Co., a 70 percent-owned subsidiary of Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Maaden), is reported to have hired banks to arrange a potential SAR 4 billion riyal-denominated sukuk.

7) Saudi Aramco Products Trading Co., a Saudi Aramco subsidiary, is said to have started swapping crude oil for refined products in other countries.

8) Saudi Arabia’s central bank is said to have agreed with the UAE’s central bank to adopt the distributed ledger technology (DLT) to provide liquidity to banks outside their working hours.

9) The Ministry of Commerce and Investment has issued export licenses to 28 steel companies and nine cement producers, since lifting ban on exports, according to the ministry's spokesman Abdulrahman Al Hussein.

10) Crude oil prices closed positive last week. Brent crude rose 0.1 percent to $70.52/bbl, while WTI crude was up nearly 1 percent at $66.14/bbl. 

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