Closing Bell: Saudi main market closes lower at 10,427 

The total trading turnover reached SR6.55 billion ($1.74 billion). A total of 160 stocks advanced, while 89 declined. Shutterstock
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Updated 15 September 2025
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Closing Bell: Saudi main market closes lower at 10,427 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index ended lower on Monday, falling 6.92 points, or 0.07 percent, to close at 10,427.06. 

Total trading turnover reached SR6.55 billion ($1.74 billion). A total of 160 stocks advanced, while 89 declined. 

The MSCI Tadawul 30 Index slipped 3.90 points, or 0.29 percent, to finish at 1,358.14. The Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu, however, gained 37.71 points, or 0.15 percent, to settle at 24,950.56, with 39 gainers against 35 losers. 

Among the top performers, Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co. surged 9.95 percent to SR26.08, while Saudi Ceramic Co. climbed 6.65 percent to SR29.20. 

National Shipping Co. of Saudi Arabia rose 6.36 percent to SR23.90, United International Holding Co. gained 5.26 percent to SR156, and Gulf General Cooperative Insurance Co. advanced 4.03 percent to SR4.65.   

On the losing side, Saudi Real Estate Co. dropped 2.53 percent to SR15.79, while Al Moammar Information Systems Co. fell 2.23 percent to SR131.50. 

On the announcements front, Mobile Telecommunication Co. Saudi Arabia, known as Zain KSA, signed a Murabaha facility agreement worth SR5.5 billion ($1.47 billion) with a consortium of five local and regional banks. 

The consortium includes Al Rajhi Bank, Arab National Bank, Saudi National Bank, Riyad Bank, and Gulf International Bank, according to the company’s disclosure on the Saudi Stock Exchange, Tadawul. 

The agreement, signed on Sept. 14, carries a five-year tenor with a one-year grace period and is scheduled for full repayment by Sept. 30, 2030. The facility is backed by a promissory note. 

According to the company, the proceeds will be used to repay existing Murabaha facilities totaling SR4.7 billion, maturing by the end of September. An additional SR500 million will settle a receivables discounting facility, also due by the same date. 

The remaining SR300 million will support Zain KSA’s operational and investment needs, offering the telecom operator enhanced financial flexibility and improved liquidity for its strategic plans. 

Zain KSA added that the agreement will become effective on Sept. 30. The company’s shares closed at SR10.18, down 1.64 percent, or SR0.17. 


No Saudi acquisition offers: FC Barcelona tells Al-Eqtisadiah

Updated 16 December 2025
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No Saudi acquisition offers: FC Barcelona tells Al-Eqtisadiah

CAIRO: FC Barcelona has not received any offers, whether from Saudi Arabia or elsewhere, to acquire the club, according to an official source who spoke to Al-Eqtisadiah.

According to the source, the circulating news regarding the possibility of finalizing a deal to acquire the club in the coming period is a mere rumor.

Recent Spanish reports had indicated the possibility of a Saudi acquisition of Barcelona shares for around €10 billion ($11.7 billion), a move considered capable of saving the club from its financial crises if it were to happen, especially as it suffers from debts estimated at around €2.5 billion.

Sale not in management’s hands

Joan Gaspart, the former president of the club, confirmed that the current board of directors, chaired by Joan Laporta, does not have the right to dispose of the club’s ownership.

He added: “FC Barcelona is owned by about 150,000 members, and selling the club is something the owners will not accept. FC Barcelona possesses something no other club in the world has; money is very important, and so is passion, but the sentiment of the members today is to continue what the club has been for 125 years.”

High market value

Despite the financial crisis the club has been going through in recent years, FC Barcelona ranks sixth on the list of the world’s highest market value clubs, with an estimated value of €1.12 billion, according to Transfermarkt. Meanwhile, its rival Real Madrid tops the list with a market value of €1.38 billion.