Tadawul earnings surge in ‘pivotal year’ for Saudi stock market
Tadawul has published its annual report for 2017 — showing a 543 percent increase in net profits to SR130 million
Chairperson of the Tadawul board Sarah Al-Suhaimi: ‘This was a year in which the Tadawul cemented its role at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s economy’
Updated 31 July 2018
Frank Kane
DUBAI: The Saudi Stock Exchange, Tadawul, enjoyed a surge in revenue and profit last year, boosted by increased interest by foreign institutIons, greater diversification of the range of services offered to investors and cost controls.
Tadawul yesterday published its annual report for 2017 — under the theme “expansion and diversification” — showing a 543 percent increase in net profits to SR130 million, on consolidated revenues 74 percent ahead at AR545.4 million.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (ebitda) rose nearly 300 percent to SR72.5 million.
Sarah Al-Suhaimi, chairperson of the Tadawul board, called the year a “pivotal” one for the exchange’s long-term strategy.
“This was a year in which the Tadawul made important strides toward the achievement of its strategy for growth, and cemented its role at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s economy.
“The overall strategic aim of Tadawul is to become a widely recognized global exchange. To support this goal, we embarked on a comprehensive program to raise standards and achieve parity with our emerging market peers,” she added.
Tadawul is a key element of the Vision 2030 strategy to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil dependency.
“Tadawul’s core objectives stem from its role in the reform agenda. The exchange is central to the ‘economy’ pillar of the Vision, which aims to create a thriving economy through investing for the long-term, with diversification of income vital for its sustainability. The fast pace of reform is both inspiring and challenging, and we are committed to its successful delivery,” Al-Suhaimi said.
Khalid Al-Hussan, chief executive, said that the results confirmed Tadawul’s position as the leading stock market in the Arabian Gulf region, with a market capitalization three times greater than its nearest rival.
“Tadawul’s status as the leading regional exchange is demonstrated by the fact that 72 percent of the value traded across the Middle East and North Africa is carried out in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Reforms set in place in 2017 enabled Tadawul to clinch three upgrades to “emerging market” status from global index providers this year.
“Our most important avenue for growth is globalization. Tadawul aims to become the first choice for investors seeking exposure to the assets of a rapidly growing region. This will be achieved by the exploitation of three key value drivers: the development of a diversified and integrated exchange; enabling and capitalizing on Saudi social and economic growth; and the delivery of a truly regional exchange platform,” Al-Hussan said.
Operational highlights of last year included spinning off the security and depository center (Edaa), the launch of the parallel equity market Noms, and the adoption of a new global industry classification standard.
Al-Hussan also underlined the adoption of new fee structure for trading, listing and membership; the transition to a T+2 settlement and clearing system; and the registration of government bonds enabling the development of a bigger debt market in the Kingdom.
Red Sea’s oxygen balance under strain, experts warn
Scientists say warming waters, nutrient runoff and coastal development could quietly erode coral resilience
Updated 13 February 2026
Ghadi Joudah
RIYADH: The Red Sea may not have dead zones, but its fragile ecosystem is vulnerable to oxygen depletion — a quiet decline that can undermine coral health and disrupt marine life.
Sea dead zones are hypoxic or low-oxygen pockets that form most often when nutrient pollution — especially nitrogen and phosphorus from farm runoff and wastewater — fuels blooms that ultimately strip oxygen from the water.
Experts say the risk is not inevitable, but it depends on earlier detection and tighter control of the conditions that drain oxygen from coastal waters.
A sea that relies on its own “breathing” is also a sea shaped by geography.
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The Red Sea is naturally low in oxygen because of its warm waters and high salinity — making it especially vulnerable to further oxygen decline.
The Red Sea’s narrow Bab Al-Mandab strait limits deepwater exchange, meaning the basin largely depends on its own internal circulation to ‘replenish’ oxygen.
Saudi Arabia’s coastline features steep underwater drop-offs, allowing deep, oxygen-poor water to move closer to coral reefs near shore.
Matheus Paiva, a senior oceanographer, told Arab News that “the Red Sea’s shallow Bab Al-Mandab choke point limits deepwater exchange,” meaning oxygen replenishment depends heavily on internal overturning circulation.
He said this circulation is driven as surface waters flow north, cool, become denser and sink, helping ventilate deeper layers through vertical mixing.
Paiva said the Saudi coastline’s underwater topography makes the risk more immediate close to shore.
Coral reefs along Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, where scientists say warm, salty waters and limited deep-water exchange can leave ecosystems vulnerable to low-oxygen stress. (Unsplash.com)
“Unlike regions with wide, gradual shelves, our coast features narrow fringing reefs that drop sharply into deep water via steep underwater cliffs and canyons,” he said.
“This ‘step-and-drop’ topography brings deep oxygen-poor water close to shore.”
Paiva said warming at the surface can intensify stratification and reduce vertical mixing. He said that can allow low-oxygen water to creep upslope and affect shallower reef zones.
How oxygen gets consumed faster than it’s replaced is where human pressure can tip the balance.
Carlos Duarte, executive director or the Coral Research and Development Accelerator Program at KAUST, told Arab News that the Red Sea’s baseline conditions create vulnerability. “Because of its warm waters and high salinity, the Red Sea is inherently low in oxygen and, therefore, vulnerable to processes that decline oxygen further.”
He said algal blooms and heat waves raise biological oxygen demand, linking low oxygen to coral mortality.
Duarte said human-driven nutrient and organic inputs can intensify these declines.
He said poorly managed urban development and aquaculture operations can contribute nutrient and organic loads that fuel algal blooms.
Coral reefs along Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, where scientists say warm, salty waters and limited deep-water exchange can leave ecosystems vulnerable to low-oxygen stress. (Unsplash.com)
Duarte said that as bloom material decomposes, it strips oxygen from the water and can lead to hypoxia.
The Red Sea’s celebrated clarity reflects a naturally nutrient-poor system. “The risk is amplified because the Red Sea is naturally oligotrophic. It is nutrient-poor and crystal clear,” Paiva said.
He added that wastewater releases and heavy rain events that trigger flash floods can push large nutrient loads into coastal waters in a short time.
In turn, those pulses can threaten biodiversity and the marine environment that underpins tourism investments along the Kingdom’s Red Sea coast.
Seeing low oxygen coming — rather than reacting after the fact — is the promise of new monitoring and analytics.
Paiva said high-accuracy oxygen data still relies on direct measurements collected during vessel surveys.
Carlos Duarte, executive director or the Coral Research and Development Accelerator Program at KAUST.
“We still depend heavily on classic vessel surveys,” he said. Teams deploy multiparameter sondes to profile the water column and collect water samples to establish a baseline.
“This ‘water-truthing’ remains the industry standard for high-accuracy data,” he said.
Saeed Al-Zahrani, general manager for Saudi Arabia at NetApp, said continuous data can help teams intervene earlier. “Oxygen depletion is rarely sudden; it tends to build over time when conditions line up,” he said.
Al-Zahrani said AI can flag anomalies, learn what “normal” looks like in specific locations, and generate short-horizon risk forecasts.
He added that it creates a decision window — guidance on when to increase sampling, where to focus response efforts, and when to tighten controls around discharges.
Coastal development that reduces oxygen risk starts, Duarte said, with what never reaches the sea.
Duarte said Saudi Arabia’s west coast investments have an advantage compared with older coastal destinations: the opportunity to design sustainability into projects from the outset rather than trying to retrofit after degradation becomes evident.
Duarte said nutrient control is a direct lever to reduce oxygen-depletion risk. “Achieve circular economies where organic products and nutrients are recycled and reused in the system to avoid discharging nutrients to the marine environment,” he said.
Al-Zahrani said wastewater and environmental systems produce huge volumes of information, but fragmentation can slow decisions.
He said connecting data in near real time can help detect problems earlier and anticipate load spikes tied to rainfall, tourism peaks, or industrial activity.
Reef resilience depends on reducing stress before heat and low oxygen overlap.
Duarte told Arab News: “Coral reefs are extremely vulnerable to oxygen depletion.” He added that it can contribute to bleaching and mortality in a warmer ocean.
He said marine heat waves can worsen oxygen stress by reducing oxygen solubility and limiting ventilation of subsurface waters, while increasing oxygen demands of organisms.
Duarte said reducing nutrient inputs and managing reefs to avoid excessive growth of seaweed can build resistance.
He also said models that account for how waves and currents interact with reef topography — work he said is being developed at KAUST — can help guide restoration toward sites more likely to remain oxygenated during heat stress.
