Good morning, friends. We’ve come to the end of the last full work week of 2024 and can see some signs of the end-of-year slowdown.

THE BIG STORIES HERE AT HOME- Saudi Arabia’s non-oil exports rose 5.1% y-o-y in October, while imports dipped during the month. Meanwhile, Kingdom Holding invested an additional SAR 1.5 bn in Elon Musk’s xAI.

^^ We have chapter and verse on these stories and more in this morning’s news well, below.

☀️WEATHER- It’s another sunny day in Riyadh, with a high of 22°C and a low of 11°C. Meanwhile, Dammam is looking at a partially cloudy day with a high of 22°C and a low of 11°C. Over in Makkah, expect thunderstorms, a high of 29°C and a low of 19°C.

UPCOMING NEWS TRIGGERS-

  • Gastat will release today its 2023 report on the nonprofit and small and medium enterprises sectors.
  • Riyad Bank’s PMI report for December is set to be released on Sunday, 5 January. The Kingdom’s PMI rose to 59.0 in November after posting its strongest performance since July 2023.

PSAs-

#1- Applications for the Research, Development, and Innovation Authority’s (RDIA) 2025 grants are now open, with the grants designed to support research, development, and innovation projects across a handful of national priorities, RDIA said in a post on X. These priorities include health and wellness, sustainable environment, energy leadership, and future economies. The grants are open to researchers, innovators, and organizations across various sectors. Applications are open here.

#2- Applications for the Saudi Capital Market Awards close on Thursday, 9 January, with the awardwinners set to be announced at Riyadh’s Capital Markets Forum in February, it said in a statement. Independent committees from CFA Society Saudi Arabia and Middle East Investor Relations Association (MEIRA) will evaluate participants.

IPO WATCH-

#1- Umm Al Qura Company for Development and Construction can now proceed with its planned IPO of a 9.1% stake on Tadawul, after receiving the greenlight from the Capital Market Authority (CMA), according to a statement. The prospectus for the offering of 130.8 mn shares is yet to be published.

BACKGROUND- The company had tapped banks including Lazard, Al Bilad Capital, and GIB Capital for the planned IPO in January of last year, Bloomberg reported at the time. While the structure and pricing of the offering have yet to be announced, the business information service’s sources said at the time that an IPO “could raise a few hundred mn USD.”

#2- Adeer Real Estate + Ratio Speciality + Time Entertainment can move forward with Nomu IPOs after CMA approval: Adeer Real Estate lined up approval from the CMA for its planned IPO of a 20% stake (1 mn shares) on parallel market Nomu, according to a CMA statement. The regulator also signed off on Ratio Speciality ’s planned IPO of a 26% stake (5 mn shares), according to another statement, while Time Entertainment Company has the all-clear to move ahead with its planned IPO of a 20% stake to qualified investors, according to the CMA.

The regulator’s approval for an IPO offering is valid for six months, with additional information to be provided pending the publication of each offering’s prospectus.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Local and international companies now have until 21 January, 2025 to bid for five exploration licenses at the Jabal Sayid and Al Hajar mineralized belts, after the Industry and Mineral Resources Ministry extended the deadline, according to a statement. The successful bidder will be announced on 16 February.

BACKGROUND- Among the prequalified bidders are three consortiums and 11 companies, including Hancock Prospecting, Noring Ajlan & Bros, IGO, Silver Crop Metals, Vedanta, First Quantum Minerals, Golden Smelter, McQueen Mining, Grand Mining Limited, and K92.

#2- Al Futtaim’s Orient Ins. officially launched operations here at home, inaugurating its office in Riyadh’s Al Ghadir district, they said in a post on LinkedIn. The company is set to offer an extensive range of general, life, medical and motor ins. and reinsurance.

#-3 Budget carrier Flyadeal will start operating direct flights from Riyadh and Jeddah to Karachi, Pakistan twice a week on 2 February, 2025, the airline said on X.

DATA POINTS-

#1- The volume of reused treated water rose 13.3% y-o-y in 2023 to 554 mn cbm, with the establishment of four new water treatment plants, according to latest data (pdf) by The General Authority for Statistics (Gastat). Total capacity of municipal wastewater treatment plants rose 8.9% y-o-y to 2.5 bn cbm.

#2- Women’s labor force participation in Saudi Arabia grew 78.3% between 2Q 2020 and 2Q 2024, growing at an average annual rate of 20%, Al Watan reports based on its analysis of Gastat data. 2022 saw the highest rate of increase in women’s labor force participation, rising 22% y-o-y, before slowing down to 15% y-o-y growth in 2023.

#3- Some 2.3 mn freelance workers were registered on the platform Future Work as of September 2024, according to the platform’s 2024 report (pdf). Some 38% of freelancers fall in the trade and retail sector, while human resources and social services accounted for 2% of freelancers’ work. The Riyadh province boasts the highest percentage of freelancers, hosting 27%.

#4- Jazan Governer Prince Mohammed bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz inaugurated SAR 12.6 bn worth of projects, including 465 municipal and housing initiatives valued at SAR 7.7 bn, while the province broke ground on 87 projects worth SAR 4.9 bn, according to Mubasher. The initiatives include 45 housing projects, 197 city operation and cleaning projects, 210 infrastructure projects, and 25 investment projects.

#5- The Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (Modon) signed 23 contracts worth over SAR 1.7 bn with private sector firms to develop infrastructure and superstructure projects across several industrial cities, as part of its 2024 development plans, it said in a post on X.

SPORTS-

The Green Falcons defeated Yemen 3-2 in yesterday’s Gulf Cup match, the Saudi national team said on X. The Kingdom’s next game is against Iraq on Saturday, 28 December.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Two stories are dominating the front pages this morning:

#1- An Azerbaijani passenger jet crashed in Kazakhstan yesterday, killing 38 people and injuring 29 others. The flight was en route from Baku to Grozny in southern Russia when it flew miles off course, then eventually crashed on shore. While it remains unclear why the flight diverted course, Reuters explains that the flight diverted “from an area of Russia that Moscow has recently defended against Ukrainian drone attacks.” Initial investigations by Russian authorities suggest that the accident was the result of the plane colliding with birds. (Reuters | The Guardian | AP | BBC | CNN | New York Times)

#2- Russia launched a missile attack targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure yesterday, which caused the Ukrainian state-owned electricity transmission company to restrict electricity in efforts to minimize damage to the country’s energy system. (Bloomberg | Financial Times | Reuters | New York Times | France 24)

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

#1- The three-day Future Minerals Forum kicks off on 14 January at Riyadh’s King Abdulaziz International Conference Center.

#2- The three-day Real Estate Future Forum kicks off on 27 January at the Four Seasons, Riyadh.

#3- LEAP 2025 will take place between 9-12 February at the Riyadh Exhibition & Convention Center in Malham. The tech event will bring together over 1.8k global tech brands, 1k experts and some 680 startups. LEAP 2025 will feature over 300 hours of content across 17 tracks, covering AI, fintech, edtech, smart cities, and more. Co-located with LEAP is DeepFest, a major AI-focused event bringing thought leaders and innovators under one roof.

#4- The eight-day Big 5 Construct Saudi will take place from 15-18 February and 24-27 February at the Riyadh Front Exhibition & Conference Center. The Kingdom’s largest construction event will feature over 2k exhibitors from more than 60 countries, showcasing innovations across the sector. The event is expected to attract over 75k participants.

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