RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index rose on Wednesday, gaining 34.55 points, or 0.28 percent, to close at 12,157.03. 

The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR5.3 billion ($1.413 billion), as 54 stocks advanced while 136 retreated.    

Similarly, the MSCI Tadawul Index increased slightly by 3.54 points, or 0.23 percent, to close at 1,523.94. 

However, the Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu dipped by 88.34 points, or 0.33 percent, to close at 26,845. This comes as 25 stocks advanced while as many as 35 retreated.  

The best-performing stock was Naseej International Trading Co., whose share price surged 9.81 percent to SR81.70. 

Other top performers included Gulf General Cooperative Insurance Co. and Makkah Construction and Development Co., whose share prices soared by 6.68 percent and 6.01 percent, to stand at SR15.02 and SR97 respectively. 

Saudi Cable Co. and Saudi Ground Services Co. also performed well.

The worst performer was Amlak International Finance Co., whose share price dropped by 5.03 percent to SR11.34. 

Batic Investments and Logistics Co. as well as Al-Jouf Agricultural Development Co., share prices dropped by 4.94 percent and 4.37 percent to stand at SR3.27 and SR63.50, respectively. 

On the announcements front, Saudi IT company Rasan has set the final offering price for its upcoming initial public offering on the Kingdom’s stock market at the upper limit of SR37 per share. 

This follows the successful completion of the book-building process for institutional investors, which saw the offering oversubscribed approximately 129.1 times the total offer shares. 

Institutions subscribed to the entire offering, with 22.74 million ordinary shares allocated to them, representing 100 percent of the total holdings offered in the first phase. 

This information comes from a statement issued by Saudi Fransi Capital, the IPO manager, as well as the financial advisors and book-runners for the institutional tranche, Saudi Fransi Capital and Morgan Stanley Saudi Arabia. 

The statement on Tadawul added that following the successful completion of the book-building process, up to 2.274 million ordinary shares, representing 10 percent of the total holdings offered, will be allocated to individual investors in the second phase.

RIYADH: Qatar has issued green bonds in two tranches totaling $2.5 billion, according to official data. 

Citing a release from the International Financing Review, Reuters reported that the operation is the Gulf state’s first external debt issuance in four years. 

According to the IFR report, Qatar sold five-year offerings worth $1 billion with a yield of 30 basis points above US treasury bonds, and ten-year debt securities worth $1.5 billion with a yield of 40 basis points.

This comes several months after global professional services network KPMG encouraged the Gulf country to issue green bonds and adopt sustainable financing mechanisms, saying that this step would help the country achieve its sustainability goals.  

The report also showed that Qatar reduced the initial indicative rate to 70 basis points over US treasury bonds for five-year debt securities and 80 basis points over US treasury bonds for 10-year offerings after receiving total orders exceeding $10.9 billion.

On another note, new data revealed that in the first quarter of 2024, Qatar recorded a merchandise trade balance surplus of 53.2 billion Qatari riyals ($14.6 billion), down from 68.4 billion riyals in the same quarter last year. 

Issued by the country’s National Statistics Center, the analysis also disclosed that the value of Qatar’s total exports, including foreign sales of domestic goods and re-exports, amounted to 87.6 billion riyals, reflecting an 8.6 percent drop compared to the corresponding period in 2023. 

On the other hand, during the same period, the value of Qatar’s imports stood at 34.4 billion riyals, reflecting a 25.4 percent surge in comparison to the first quarter of 2023. 

When asked about the issuance of external debt in January, Qatar’s Finance Minister Ali Al-Kuwari, said: “We’re ready to do it very soon.” 

Speaking to Bloomberg Television on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos at the time, the official highlighted that Qatar is “not hungry for money,” but it will pursue the issuance “mainly to send a strong statement” in combating climate change.  

One of the world’s biggest producers of liquefied natural gas, Qatar has not issued eurobonds since early 2020, when it sold $10 billion of debt.   

In 2022, the Gulf state’s central bank announced plans to implement strategic actions, including facilitating green bond issuance and advancing cooperation with the Qatar Development Bank, to promote diversification efforts. The aim is to fund projects to reduce carbon and other planet-warming emissions.