10 things to consider as Tadawul starts trading

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

1) The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) has started work on establishing a Central Counterparty Clearing House (CCP), a SAR 600 million closed joint stock company for clearing of securities in the capital market.

2) Khalid Abdullah Al Hussan, Chief Executive Officer of Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), told Argaam that his company is conducting final testing of the market making mechanism.

3) Saudi Arabia's position in the World Bank's annual “Ease of Doing Business” index on the dimension of protecting minority investors has jumped from 63rd position to the top 10 in just one year, said Mohammed El-Kuwaiz, chairman of Capital Market Authority.

4) Saudi Arabia was able to reduce spending by SAR 12 billion in Q1, and is working towards reducing the deficit to 7 percent of GDP this year, finance minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said during the Euromoney Conference 2018 in Riyadh.

5) Saudi Arabia can maintain a slower pace of its fiscal adjustment measures in order to help ease any pressures on its people and businesses, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

6) National Commercial Bank (NCB) posted a net profit of SAR 2.98 billion for the first quarter of 2018, a 10.51 percent year-on-year (YoY) rise that was attributed to lower gross operating expenses, along with a decrease in general and administrative expenses.

7) Banque Saudi Fransi (BSFR) reported a net profit of SAR 1.11 billion for Q1 2018, up 0.7 percent YoY due to higher total operating income, driven by higher net special commission income, and profit from selling a stake in an associate.

8) Al Abdullatif Industrial Investment Co. reported a net profit of SAR 7.3 million for Q1 2018, a 40.4 percent YoY drop due to lower sales, higher cost of materials and lower other income.

9) Saudi Airlines Catering Co. posted a net profit of SAR 120.3 million for Q1 2018, nearly 1 percent YoY decline on lower sales and losses incurred from an associate company.

10) Crude oil prices edged lower on Thursday, after Energy Information Administration showed a rise in US inventories. Brent crude was last down 0.3 percent at $73.15/bbl while WTI crude fell 0.2 percent to $67.79/bbl.

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