LONDON: Saudi insurance stocks surged on Sunday, with investors expecting the sector to reap significant dividends following the lifting of the ban on female drivers.
Insurance stocks — one of the worst performing sectors on the Saudi bourse for the year to date — outperformed other classifications on Sunday, ending 2.4 percent higher, compared with a 1.8 percent rise for the Kingdom’s headline index.
Amana Insurance and AlRajhi Takaful were the best performers of the day, gaining 9.9 percent each. Tawuniya, the Kingdom’s largest insurer, ended Sunday 1.1 percent higher, with only one of the country’s 33 listed insurance providers closing lower for the day.
The lifting of restrictions on female drivers — which came into effect on Sunday after first being announced in September — is part of a series of wide-ranging reforms introduced as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic transformation program, designed to diversify the economy away from a reliance on oil revenues.
The advent of women drivers is forecast to benefit the economy by significantly increase female participation in the workforce, and stimulating financial, insurance and retail sectors among others.
The insurance sector is set to draw particular benefit from the move, but may remain under pressure, according to rating agency S&P.
“We anticipate that efforts of the local authorities to tackle the large number of uninsured drivers, combined with the arrival of women drivers … and the introduction of additional benefits under the unified medical policy from July 1, will support further premium growth in the industry in the medium term,” said S&P in a research note in April.
“However, these factors may be offset by the large number of foreign workers that have already left or will be leaving the Kingdom in 2018.”
In spite of yesterday’s price surge, insurance stocks are 8.4 percent lower for the year to date. Tadawul as a whole is up 15.6 percent so far this year, making the bourse one of the world’s best performers for 2018.
Investor sentiment on Sunday was also boosted by investor optimism after index provider MSCI announced last week that it would upgrade Saudi stocks to its Emerging Markets Index from next year.
The widely anticipated upgrade — which puts Saudi equities on an index tracked by around $2 trillion worth of global assets — is expected to attract up to $40 billion of international funds, Tadawul CEO Khalid Al-Hussan told Arab News last week.
MSCI’s upgrade came after a similar move by fellow index provider FTSE Russell in February, which is also scheduled to come into effect from next year.
Banks were among the other bright performers on Tadawul on Sunday. Arab National Bank led gains, closing up 4.2 percent, while blue-chip names NCB and AlRajhi rose 1.6 percent and 2.3 percent respectively.
Some petrochemical companies also added value, Reuters reported, following a rise in oil prices after OPEC decided on only modest increases in crude production last week.
Outside Saudi Arabia, Gulf markets posted minor gains. In Dubai, where the index was flat, Air Arabia was unchanged. Shares in the airline have declined by more than 10 percent since early last week, when the company said it had hired experts to protect its business interests in private equity firm Abraaj, which has filed for provisional liquidation. The airline said its exposure was around $336 million.
Last week, the UAE’s securities regulator asked listed companies to declare their exposure to Abraaj.
Saudi insurance stocks soar as female drivers take to the road
Saudi insurance stocks soar as female drivers take to the road
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Closing Bell: TASI sheds points to close at 10,416
RIYADH: Saudi equities closed sharply lower on Sunday, with the Tadawul All Share Index falling 109.44 points, or 1.04 percent, to 10,416.65.
Losses were mirrored across other benchmarks, with the MT30 Index declining 11.31 points, or 0.81 percent, to 1,378.35, while the Nomu Parallel Market Index dropped 186.91 points, or 0.80 percent, to 23,244.02.
Trading activity saw 136 million shares change hands, with a total value of SR2.40 billion ($640 million).
On the stock level, gains were led by Flynas Co., which closed at SR64.10, up SR3.10, or 5.08 percent.
Arabian Mining Co. ended the session at SR88, rising SR4, or 4.76 percent, while Saudi Industrial Export Co. settled at SR2.20, gaining SR0.10, or 4.76 percent.
Raoom Trading Co. also advanced, closing at SR62.75, up SR1.70, or 2.78 percent, and Saudi Cable Co. finished higher at SR148, adding SR3.40, or 2.35 percent, bucking the broader market weakness.
On the losing side, Mutakamelah Cooperative Insurance Co. posted the steepest decline, closing at SR10.54, down SR0.96, or 8.35 percent.
Wafrah Co. for Industry and Development followed, ending at SR19.50, falling SR1.50, or 7.14 percent.
Shares of Consolidated Grunenfelder Saady Holding Co. retreated sharply, closing at SR8.92, down SR0.68, or 7.08 percent, while Leejam Sports Co. slid to SR94, shedding SR6.80, or 6.75 percent.
Saudi Research and Media Group Co. also ended the session notably lower, closing at SR127, down SR9, or 6.62 percent.
On the announcements front, Naqi Water Co. said it has signed an addendum to its previously disclosed contract to purchase a bottled drinking water production line for its new factory in Riyadh, expanding the project scope to include two independent production lines instead of one.
The amendment increases total production capacity to 120,000 bottles per hour, up 20 percent from the previously targeted capacity, enhancing operational flexibility, reliability, and production stability.
The total contract value has been repriced to €9.58 million ($11.28 million), compared with the originally announced €8.54 million, reflecting the expanded scope and the adoption of innovative packaging solutions aimed at reducing plastic usage and lowering production costs.
The company said the financial impact is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Naqi Water Co.’s shares closed at SR57.40, declining SR1.60, or 2.71 percent, following the disclosure.
