Company Insights Sico Bank Banking & Finance Sico Bank News Analysis Mining Ma’aden-Alba merger ‘a potential game changer’ The proposed merger between the Saudi Arabian mining company Ma’aden and Bahrain’s aluminium smelter Alba looks likely to shake up the global aluminium industry, with the new company challenging for sixth place in the world rankings. “It’s almost a game-changing event, particularly in the GCC region,” says Andy Farida, a senior analyst at Fastmarkets, a […] September 27, 2024 Analysis Economy Oman edging closer to investment grade rating Oman has been putting its fiscal house in order over the past three years and, in the eyes of many analysts, has realistic hopes of regaining its investment grade rating. But the sultanate has significantly upped spending on energy and social subsidies, while a drop in gas prices has lowered revenues in the seven months […] September 19, 2024 Economy Analysts predict growth despite Saudi GDP fall Saudi Arabia’s year-on-year GDP fell again in the second quarter, according to adjusted government figures released this week, but analysts have said the quarterly increase shows the economy is nearing the end of its negative run. GDP was down 0.3 percent year on year in the second quarter, but has risen by 1.4 percent since […] September 10, 2024 Energy Gulf’s profits rise thanks to petrochemicals and banks A turnaround in Saudi Arabia’s long-troubled petrochemicals industry has helped Gulf companies’ second-quarter earnings rise year on year. The region’s banking, telecom and real estate sectors also prospered. GCC listed companies’ earnings totalled $60.7 billion in the three months to June 30, up from $57.4 billion a year earlier, a report by Kuwait’s Kamco Invest […] September 9, 2024 Analysis Real Estate Saudi Arabia woos US investors to bolster housing sector As growth in mortgage lending in Saudi Arabia runs up against local liquidity constraints, several US investment giants are looking to step in. After a visit by Saudi officials to the US at the end of August, household names such as BlackRock and King Street Capital signed preliminary agreements with the Saudi Real Estate Refinance […] September 9, 2024 Analysis Markets Saudi Arabia leads international bond issuance Saudi Arabia is the leading emerging market issuer of sovereign and quasi-sovereign international bonds, and experts predict the kingdom will expand its borrowings further to help fund infrastructure spending. Saudi Arabia, the Middle East’s largest economy despite a 0.8 percent decline in real GDP last year, sold $26.8 billion of international bonds from January 1 […] September 5, 2024 Analysis Telecoms Saudi Telecom’s share surge raises prospect of PIF stake sale Saudi Telecom Co’s surprise dividend increase announcement has propelled its stock to a 13-month high and increased the likelihood that majority shareholder the Public Investment Fund may sell some of its stake in the former telecom monopoly. On Sunday, STC said it would pay SAR0.55 ($0.15) per share each quarter for three years starting from […] August 28, 2024 Analysis Telecoms Worst is over for Etisalat shares but don’t expect a rebound Shares in UAE blue-chip e& – more commonly known as Etisalat – have fallen by more than half from a 2022 peak as investors fret over difficulties related to some of the telecom operator’s foreign investments. Yet analysts believe these issues are now priced in and so the worst should be over for the stock. Etisalat […] August 19, 2024 Analysis Telecoms Telcos turning to tech to propel growth Fear of market irrelevance has spurred former Gulf telecom operators such as e& to bet on providing more sophisticated, tech-based services to consumers and businesses. This strategy differs from earlier efforts to create a vast geographic footprint for their operations, which, in many cases, led Gulf telcos to nurse billion-dollar losses. E&, which is listed […] August 15, 2024 Construction Drake & Scull announces positive note after return to markets Construction company Drake & Scull International has reported mid-year net profit of AED 30 million ($8.17 million) two months after it resumed trading on the Dubai Financial Market following a scandal-plagued, six-year suspension. Engineer and chairman of the board of directors Shafiq Abdelhamid said in a statement that he was “pleased” with Drake & Scull […] July 29, 2024 Posts navigation Previous 1 2 3 4 Next
Analysis Mining Ma’aden-Alba merger ‘a potential game changer’ The proposed merger between the Saudi Arabian mining company Ma’aden and Bahrain’s aluminium smelter Alba looks likely to shake up the global aluminium industry, with the new company challenging for sixth place in the world rankings. “It’s almost a game-changing event, particularly in the GCC region,” says Andy Farida, a senior analyst at Fastmarkets, a […] September 27, 2024
Analysis Economy Oman edging closer to investment grade rating Oman has been putting its fiscal house in order over the past three years and, in the eyes of many analysts, has realistic hopes of regaining its investment grade rating. But the sultanate has significantly upped spending on energy and social subsidies, while a drop in gas prices has lowered revenues in the seven months […] September 19, 2024
Economy Analysts predict growth despite Saudi GDP fall Saudi Arabia’s year-on-year GDP fell again in the second quarter, according to adjusted government figures released this week, but analysts have said the quarterly increase shows the economy is nearing the end of its negative run. GDP was down 0.3 percent year on year in the second quarter, but has risen by 1.4 percent since […] September 10, 2024
Energy Gulf’s profits rise thanks to petrochemicals and banks A turnaround in Saudi Arabia’s long-troubled petrochemicals industry has helped Gulf companies’ second-quarter earnings rise year on year. The region’s banking, telecom and real estate sectors also prospered. GCC listed companies’ earnings totalled $60.7 billion in the three months to June 30, up from $57.4 billion a year earlier, a report by Kuwait’s Kamco Invest […] September 9, 2024
Analysis Real Estate Saudi Arabia woos US investors to bolster housing sector As growth in mortgage lending in Saudi Arabia runs up against local liquidity constraints, several US investment giants are looking to step in. After a visit by Saudi officials to the US at the end of August, household names such as BlackRock and King Street Capital signed preliminary agreements with the Saudi Real Estate Refinance […] September 9, 2024
Analysis Markets Saudi Arabia leads international bond issuance Saudi Arabia is the leading emerging market issuer of sovereign and quasi-sovereign international bonds, and experts predict the kingdom will expand its borrowings further to help fund infrastructure spending. Saudi Arabia, the Middle East’s largest economy despite a 0.8 percent decline in real GDP last year, sold $26.8 billion of international bonds from January 1 […] September 5, 2024
Analysis Telecoms Saudi Telecom’s share surge raises prospect of PIF stake sale Saudi Telecom Co’s surprise dividend increase announcement has propelled its stock to a 13-month high and increased the likelihood that majority shareholder the Public Investment Fund may sell some of its stake in the former telecom monopoly. On Sunday, STC said it would pay SAR0.55 ($0.15) per share each quarter for three years starting from […] August 28, 2024
Analysis Telecoms Worst is over for Etisalat shares but don’t expect a rebound Shares in UAE blue-chip e& – more commonly known as Etisalat – have fallen by more than half from a 2022 peak as investors fret over difficulties related to some of the telecom operator’s foreign investments. Yet analysts believe these issues are now priced in and so the worst should be over for the stock. Etisalat […] August 19, 2024
Analysis Telecoms Telcos turning to tech to propel growth Fear of market irrelevance has spurred former Gulf telecom operators such as e& to bet on providing more sophisticated, tech-based services to consumers and businesses. This strategy differs from earlier efforts to create a vast geographic footprint for their operations, which, in many cases, led Gulf telcos to nurse billion-dollar losses. E&, which is listed […] August 15, 2024
Construction Drake & Scull announces positive note after return to markets Construction company Drake & Scull International has reported mid-year net profit of AED 30 million ($8.17 million) two months after it resumed trading on the Dubai Financial Market following a scandal-plagued, six-year suspension. Engineer and chairman of the board of directors Shafiq Abdelhamid said in a statement that he was “pleased” with Drake & Scull […] July 29, 2024
