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Good morning, friends. It’s a brisk news morning with no sign of a pre-Eid news slowdown yet in the cards.
HAPPENING TODAY- Trading of shares in Fakeeh Care Group will begin on Tadawul’s main market this morning. Shares will be allowed to trade within a ±30% band on each of the first three days before being capped at no more than 10% up or down after that before circuit breakers kick in. (All shares on Tadawul are subject to the 10% up-or-down rule.)
REMEMBER- Fakeeh Care’s IPO drew in strong demand, with the institutional tranche of the offering closing 119x oversubscribed, while the retail tranche was 14.5x oversubscribed. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia, the UAE’s largest sovereign wealth fund) and Olayan Saudi Investment are both cornerstone investors in the IPO. The Riyadh-based healthcare provider is taking a 21.5% stake to market through an offering of both new and existing shares. The IPO was priced at the top of the range at SAR 57.5 per share, setting it up to be the largest IPO so far this year with SAR 2.9 bn in proceeds.
Of healthcare, listings, and growing wealth: Bloomberg looks at the IPO and the group’s history as an example of a strong non-oil business amid the government’s economic diversification plan and an IPO boom.
Up next for capital markets: Miahona, Rasan, and Saudi Manpower are all in the last legs of their IPOs.
AND- The order window for Aramco’s blockbuster secondary sale closes tomorrow (Thursday, 6 June).
ALSO HAPPENING TODAY- The Growth Summit Riyadh and Digital Transformation Summit kick off and the Kingdom is host to World Environment Day.
WEATHER- Look a daytime high of 42°C today in the capital city with an occasional light breeze blowing. The mercury will dip to 32°C overnight — a pattern you can expect to extend for at least the next 10 days, per the long-range forecast on our favorite weather app.
WATCH THIS SPACE-
#1- Dubai-headquartered Dar Global — an arm of one the Kingdom’s largest listed real estate developers Dar Al Arkan — is looking to buy plots of land in Riyadh, Gulf News quotes Dar Global CEO Ziaad El Chaar as saying. “The residential options we plan to build there are targeted at the international investor market,” he said, without providing further detail. The move would mark the LSE-listed company’s first direct venture into the local market.
The pitch: “With Saudi Arabia now offering residency for life options for investors, the synergy is evident. It’s an ideal moment to spearhead niche projects across pivotal Gulf cities that investors covet for their second homes,” El Chaar said.
#2- Aramco eyes two US LNG projects: Oil giant Aramco is reportedly in talks with Houston-based Tellurian over a potential stake purchase in the US firm’s 27.6 mn metric ton per annum (mtpa) Driftwood LNG plant in Louisiana, Reuters reports, citing sources it says are close to the talks. Aramco is also in separate talks with NextDecade for a long-term gas purchase agreement from the Texan company’s Rio Grande facility, Reuters’ sources say.
#3- Adnoc Distribution plans to invest around USD 250-300 mn annually in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt over the next five years, Asharq Business quotes CEO Bader Al Lamki as saying. The Emirati company is looking to add some 15-20 fuel stations across the three countries within six months.
DATA POINTS-
The King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam set a new record for monthly handling capacity in May, with 291.6 standard containers, the Ports Authority (Mawani) said in a release. The figure surpasses the port’s March record by some 2k TEUs.
IN CONTEXT- Congestion in King Abdulaziz Port came after most Jeddah-bound maritime traffic was directed to the port in Dammam in reaction to ongoing attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. The crisis saw container handling at Dammam first growing by 41.3% y-o-y in February to reach the then-record high of 235.8k TEUs.
Tadawul’s equity market capitalization stood at SAR 10.2 tn in May, dipping 5.1% m-o-m despite the total value of shares increasing by 5.9% m-o-m to SAR 1.4 tn, according to the latest figures from Tadawul (pdf). The total volume of shares traded was also up 0.8% m-o-m to 5.5 mn shares.
SPORTS-
Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is “open to everything,” signaling he could agree to a move to a Saudi club, reports Belgian outlet HLN. The Belgian superstar pointed to his being in a late stage in his career, as well as the attractive financial packages on offer from Saudi, as important pull factors to consider. The 32-year-old has secured six Premier League titles in his nine seasons with ManCity, which completed the treble in 2023.
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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-
A third term for Modi… maybe: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on track to become the country’s first prime minister to secure a third term in over 60 years after his coalition the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a little more than half of the 543 seats in the country’s lower house. Modi has lost his parliamentary majority — a surprise to pundits — and now has to work with allies to form a government. The opposition INDIA alliance holds some 233 seats. The result is seen as a blow to Modi’s dominance, with analysts noting a shift towards “alliance politics” and a more negotiated government. (FT | Reuters | CNBC)
What’s next? Bloomberg is out with a piece detailing what went wrong for Modi and what we expect next from the Indian government.
ALSO IN ELECTIONS- Sunak vs. Starmer. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak went head-to-head with Labour Party leader Keir Starmer in their first debate weeks before the Brits head to the polls. Their debate saw them take digs at each other’s election promises, with Sunak telling viewers that Starmer’s party will “raise your taxes. It’s in their DNA. Your work, your car, your pension.”
Round two: The two will face off again on 26 June and take part in a seven-way debate on Friday, Bloomberg writes. (The Guardian | The Washington Post | FT | BBC)
OIL WATCH- Oil extends losses: Oil prices fell another USD 1 a barrel yesterday, extending losses that pushed them to four-month lows. Brent crude fell to a low of USD 76.76 a barrel yesterday, while US West Texas Intermediate crude fell to USD 73.25. Brent has now fallen 8% over the past week, as “rising oil inventories and weak economic data have fuelled concerns that global demand will remain depressed, while stubbornly high inflation will cause central banks to delay interest rate cuts,” writes the Financial Times.
CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-
The Global EV and Mobility Tech Forum will open its doors on Wednesday, 10 July to Thursday, 11 July at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center. The event will bring together policymakers, NGOs, and startups.
The Conference on Arbitration and Dispute Resolution in Energy, Oil, and Gas will be held in GCC countries for the first time in 2025, coming off the signing of a partnership between the GCC Commercial Arbitration Center, the Scottish Arbitration Center, and the International Conference on Law, according to state news agency SPA. The conference will bring together experts in international arbitration to discuss the legal, geopolitical, economic, and security aspects and challenges related to energy disputes in the GCC.
