Tadawul Group regularly reviews trading commissions, 70% of revenue depends on market liquidity: CEO

Khalid Alhussan, CEO of Saudi Tadawul Group Holding

The trading commissions in the Saudi market are continuously reviewed, whether they are raised or reduced, Khalid Alhussan, CEO of Saudi Tadawul Group Holding (Tadawul Group), told Argaam in an exclusive.

He indicated that this is an essential part of the stock market’s operations, highlighting the importance of seeking investors’ feedback about the commissions.

Tadawul offers products and services at attractive prices compared with regional and global peers, Alhussan said.

Commenting on the fourth-quarter results, the CEO said the market’s performance is mainly driven by liquidity that represents 70% of the company’s revenue.

“The decline in revenue is attributed to the weak market liquidity in Q4 2021, in addition to the slight growth in project expenses, such as the project of activating the operating systems of the Securities Clearing Center Co. (Muqassa) as well as amending laws and regulations,” Alhussan said.

He indicated that the company will launch the options product for specific companies during the second quarter of 2022, after completing the post-trading systems next month.

The options fees are being discussed with the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and will be announced after obtaining the necessary approvals. In addition, the market information product will be launched through the subsidiary, Advanced Solutions Co. (Wamed).

A total of 14 companies have been listed since the beginning of 2022, including three on the main market and 11 on Nomu. In addition, another four companies obtained listing approvals.

Recently, the CMA announced receiving more than 70 listing applications, Alhussan said, adding that the listing target will be achieved this year or beyond.

However, the top executive ruled out any discussions about any additional offering of Tadawul.

“The company was listed three months ago after floating 30% of capital, which is a good percentage," he concluded.

Tadawul Group reported a net profit after Zakat and tax of SAR 587.7 million in 2021, up 17% from SAR 500.5 million in the year-ago period. The fourth-quarter net profit reached SAR 110.5 million, a decline of 28% YoY, according to data compiled by Argaam.