Tadawul 2023 profit falls as trading values drop 22%

Reuters/Faisal Al Nasser

Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Company, the operator of the Saudi stock exchange (Tadawul), posted a decline in 2023 profits as trading value dropped sharply.

Net profit for the full year fell 8 percent year on year to SAR390 million ($104 million).

Revenue fell 1.6 percent year on year to just over SAR1 billion due to a decline in trading and post-trade revenues, as trading values fell 22 percent year on year.

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Expenses rose to SAR744 million, up 16 percent year on year in 2023, compared to SAR 644 million, due to a rise in workforce costs, including increased headcount and systems maintenance costs.

Market capitalisation reached SAR 11.3 trillion at the end of 2023. Tadawul has 310 listed companies on the main market, Nomu-Parallel Market and Reits.

The company’s board of directors also recommended a 23 percent cash dividend for 2023, amounting to SAR 276 million.

Last month, the kingdom’s market regulator, Capital Market Authority, said it had received 56 initial public offering applications, a number well ahead of analysts’ expectations.

CMA chief Mohammed El Kuwaiz told a capital markets forum in Riyadh on February 19 that the applications were a 30 percent increase on last year, covering the main Saudi stock market and the parallel market Nomu. 

In January, Saudi Tadawul Group purchased a 32.6 percent stake in Dubai Mercantile Exchange’s parent company for SAR107 million.