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Markets news from the Middle East. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

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Saudi bond issuance on the international market has been worth almost $27 billion in the year so far, well ahead of Poland in second place

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 […]

Cristiano Ronaldo is the official brand ambassador for Talabat. The company's enterprise value is estimated to exceed $6bn

Three banks shortlisted for Talabat’s Dubai listing

Three banks have been picked to proceed with the proposed listing of food delivery service Talabat on the Dubai Financial Market. Emirates NBD Bank, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will work on the initial public offering (IPO), Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. However, the sources said that final decisions on […]

Saudi perfumer to raise $188m from 30% stake sale

Al Majed for Oud Co priced its initial public offering (IPO) on the Saudi stock exchange at SAR94, the top of its indicative price range announced last week. The Riyadh-based perfume and oud products manufacturer will raise SAR705 million ($188 million) by selling 7.5 million shares, or a 30 percent stake. The institutional book-building phase was oversubscribed by 156.5 times, the […]

NMDC Energy has executed more than 1,200 projects and has a backlog of AED54 billion as of June 2024

NMDC Energy’s IPO oversubscribed 14 times

The initial public offering (IPO) of NMDC Energy, the wholly owned subsidiary of NMDC Group, has been oversubscribed 14 times by day four of its subscription period. The subscription commenced on August 30 and will close on September 4. Shares of NMDC Group, which trades on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), jumped more than 9 percent on […]

Arabian Mills reported revenues and net profit of SAR862m and SAR200m, respectively, in 2023

Arabian Mills to raise up to $271m from Saudi listing

Arabian Mills for Food Products Company (Arabian Mills) has set the price range for its initial public offering (IPO) between SAR62 and SAR66 ($16.52-$17.59) per share, raising between SAR954 million and SAR1.02 billion. Market capitalisation will range between SAR3.2 billion and SAR3.4 billion on listing. The institutional book-building period commenced on September 1 and will […]

PIF dividends

PIF-backed Saudi companies increase dividends 

This week Saudi Arabia’s former telecom monopoly announced increased dividends. It became the latest company part-owned by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund and listed on Riyadh’s bourse to do so. The higher payouts provide a boost to the income of the Public Investment Fund, which it can then reinvest in higher-growth industries and accelerate Saudi’s […]

Borsa Istanbul worst

Economic woes force investors to dump Turkish stocks

The Borsa Istanbul was the worst performing stock exchange globally in August, with investors large and small heading for the exit as Turkey’s economy slows and returns wither.  After hitting an all-time high of 11,173 points on July 22, the exchange’s key BIST100 index has dropped steadily. It fell 13 percent to 9,724 at one […]

NMDC Energy has executed more than 1,200 projects and has a backlog of AED53.9 billion as of June 2024

NMDC Energy to raise $877m from Abu Dhabi listing

NMDC Group expects to raise AED3.22 billion ($877 million) when its wholly-owned energy subsidiary lists next month on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). The initial public offering of NMDC Energy, an engineering, procurement, and construction contractor for energy projects, will consist of 1.15 billion shares at AED2.8 per share. The shares are expected to begin […]

Al Majed for Oud has 650 products under 132 brands, with a daily production capacity of 50,000 products

Saudi perfume maker sets IPO price guidance

Al Majed for Oud Company, a Riyadh-based perfume and oud products manufacturer, has set the price range for its initial public offering (IPO) between SAR90 and SAR94 ($23.99-$25.05) per share. The institutional book-building period started on Sunday and will end on August 29. The company is floating 30 percent of its capital, or 7.5 million shares, on the Saudi stock exchange. […]

NMDC Group to list energy unit on Abu Dhabi exchange

The board of NMDC Group has confirmed a decision to list its energy subsidiary on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange. NMDC Energy will sell a portion through an initial public offering (IPO) after obtaining the green light from the Securities and Commodities Authority and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, according to Abu Dhabi-listed NMDC Group’s filing […]

Powder, Flour, Food

Arabian Mills to float 30% of its stake on Saudi bourse

Arabian Mills for Food Products Company (Arabian Mills) will sell 15.4 million shares, or 30 percent of its share capital, on the Saudi stock exchange. The sale comprises existing shares by Abdulaziz Al-Ajlan Sons for Trading and Real Estate Investment Company (Ajlan & Bros), Sulaiman Abdulaziz Al-Rajhi International Company, and National Agricultural Development Company (NADEC). […]

Turkey Wealth Fund will continue its diversified investments in strategic sectors, President Erdogan said in the 2022 annual report

Turkey transfers shares in 12 companies to its wealth fund

The Turkish government has transferred treasury shares of 12 companies to the state-run Turkey Wealth Fund (TWF), according to a presidential decree published in the official gazette. Among these companies are Borsa Istanbul-listed Koza Altin Isletmeleri, Koza Anadolu Metal Madencilik Isletmeleri and Ipek Dogal Enerji Kaynaklari Arastirma, the decree said. However, no details on the […]

Perfume maker Al Majed for Oud has 286 stores, of which 237 are in Saudi Arabia and 49 in the GCC region

Saudi perfume maker to list 30% stake

Al Majed for Oud Company, a $200 million perfume and oud products manufacturer, intends to float 30 percent of its capital, or 7.5 million shares, on the Saudi stock exchange. The final IPO price will be determined after the book-building process, which will run from August 25 to 29. The retail offering will be for one day on September 15, comprising […]

e&'s AI-integrated robot interacts with people at the Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2024. The company's shares have rallied from a four-year low in May

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 […]

Saudi holdings of US treasuries rose by $4 billion to take advantage of US interest rates

Saudi forex assets fall but US Treasury holdings rise

Saudi Arabia’s net foreign assets fell by $15.2 billion month on month in July, but the kingdom’s US Treasuries holdings shot up by another $4 billion in June, new data showed this week.  The Saudi central bank’s net foreign assets decreased from SAR1.67 trillion ($445.3 bn) in June to SAR1.613 trillion in July, preliminary data […]

Egypt's Financial Regulatory Authority is overseeing the carbon trading market in partnership with the stock exchange. Seven Egyptian brokerage firms have applied for licences

Egypt launches Africa into carbon trading market

The first three trades were made on Egypt’s new carbon trading platform on Tuesday, the first of its kind in Africa. Two local food companies, Daltex and ISIS Organic, became the first Egyptian buyers of the instruments, purchasing a combined 2,000 carbon credits. Each credit represents a tonne of carbon reduced or removed from the […]

Mubadala Capital has been focusing its investments in medicine discovery and biotechnology, among other sectors

Mubadala Capital puts faith in biotech startups

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Capital has made early-stage investments into three US biotech startups this year, taking advantage of a broader decline in company valuations to buy into the fast-growing sector. Biotechnology uses living organisms to make products, often pharmaceuticals. There are nearly 7,600 biotech-based drugs in development in the US according to the Biotechnology Innovation […]

Customers queue at a Starbucks in Jeddah airport. Saudi wealth fund PIF has decreased its Starbucks call options by 138,800 shares

PIF cuts down on Starbucks and goes for chips in US rejig

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has adjusted its US equities portfolio, including trimming its call options on Starbucks. The global coffee chain has faced boycott calls over its perceived pro-Israel stance in the ongoing Gaza conflict, a claim it denies. In its latest Securities and Exchange Commission filing, PIF decreased its Starbucks call options by […]

Carry traders are attracted by Turkey's high interest rates that allow them to profit on borrowed currencies

Turkey’s courting of carry traders risks leaving it exposed

While fund managers are still moving into the Turkish carry trade market, there are rising concerns these flows could reverse, leaving the economy exposed.  In this instance, carry trading involves borrowing currency in low-yield foreign economies to convert into the lira to reap rewards from Turkey’s high interest rate environment. Turkey became very attractive to […]