Most Gulf bourses fall on Russia-Ukraine crisis | Reuters

Most Gulf bourses fall on Russia-Ukraine crisis | Reuters

Most stock markets in the Gulf ended lower on Sunday, tracking Friday's decline on Wall Street against the backdrop of a standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine.

Washington on Friday said Russia had massed enough troops near Ukraine to launch a major invasion and urged U.S. citizens to leave the country within 48 hours after Russia stiffened its response to Western diplomacy. Moscow denies it plans to invade. read more

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) led the losses, retreating 2% for its biggest daily decline since late November, with stocks falling across the board.

On Thursday 12 people were injured at Saudi Arabia's Abha airport by shrapnel from an explosive-laden drone intercepted by air defences, said the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group. read more

The Houthis often launch attacks on Abha airport, which lies close to the Yemeni border in Saudi Arabia's south, and other parts of the country with drones and missiles. Most attacks are intercepted but a few people have been killed and several injured.

Elsewhere, oil behemoth Saudi Aramco (2222.SE), reversed early gains to finish 0.7% down.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has transferred 4% of Saudi Aramco shares worth $80 billion to the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, the government said on Sunday. read more

Sunday's declines were despite crude oil prices, a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets, closing at seven-year highs on Friday, driven up 3% by escalating fears of a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, adding to concerns over global crude supplies. read more

The Qatari index (.QSI) dropped 1.3%, with almost all stocks in negative territory, including petrochemicals producer Industries Qatar (IQCD.QA), which fell by 1.9%.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30) closed 1.2% down, with top lender Commercial International Bank (COMI.CA) losing 0.7%.

#Kuwait's Boubyan Bank gets approval for 12% capital increase | Reuters

Kuwait's Boubyan Bank gets approval for 12% capital increase | Reuters

Kuwaiti Boubyan Bank has got the capital market authority's approval for a capital increase of 12%, Kuwait's state news agency said on Sunday.

The increase will take place through new shares issuance, the Agency added.

#Dubai ruler steps in over retail empire’s inheritance dispute | Financial Times

Dubai ruler steps in over retail empire’s inheritance dispute | Financial Times

Dubai’s ruler has appointed a judicial committee to resolve a family dispute among the heirs of the late Majid Al Futtaim, founder of one of the emirate’s largest private companies. 

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s intervention is designed to oversee the transition of ownership of the Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) retail and leisure empire after the eponymous founder’s death in December. The company is a pillar of the Gulf state’s economy. There have been reports of discord among the founder’s ten heirs, seven people in Dubai briefed on the developments said. 

The people said the committee’s role is to mediate among the shareholders and protect both the interests of the company and Dubai’s economy as the tourism and financial hub swings out of the coronavirus pandemic with surging growth. “MAF is too important to Dubai for the government not to keep an eye and help,” said one of the people briefed on the matter. 

The committee’s role is “to adjudicate potential legal disputes related to Mr Majid’s estate and inheritance issues,” the company told the Financial Times. MAF said the committee would not oversee the company or its business. “As we work through this transition, our businesses are continuing their operations as normal,” it said. 

With $16bn of assets worldwide, MAF is a mainstay of the Gulf’s tourist and commercial centre. The retail and leisure empire operates 29 malls, including Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates, and built the region’s first indoor ski slope. 

Judicial committees, usually chaired by an executive or technocrat, are set up by the ruler when internal disputes threaten to disrupt family-owned businesses, which account for around 40 per cent of the United Arab Emirates’ economic output and are big employers.

European, Middle Eastern & African Stocks - Bloomberg #Kuwait #Israel #SaudiArabia #Qatar mid-session

European, Middle Eastern & African Stocks - Bloomberg #Kuwait #Israel #SaudiArabia #Qatar mid-session

LIC IPO Launch Date, Value, Stake for Sale in #India’s Biggest Listing: QuickTake - Bloomberg

LIC IPO Launch Date, Value, Stake for Sale in India’s Biggest Listing: QuickTake - Bloomberg

State-owned Life Insurance Corp. of India, with its distinctive blue and yellow logo, is ubiquitous across the country of 1.4 billion people. LIC controls nearly two-thirds of the Indian market, with almost 300 million policies and more than 1.3 million agents, 100,000 employees, 2,000 branches and 1,500 satellite offices. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is racing to sell at least 5% of LIC in what’s set to be India’s biggest-ever initial public offering and the fourth-biggest IPO of any insurer globally. Its sheer scale presents a unique challenge for the nation’s under-developed capital markets, and a big test of Modi’s plan to make the economy more efficient.

1. Why is the government selling a stake?

The LIC sale is the biggest chunk of a $10.4 billion asset-sale program that’s aimed at plugging India’s budget deficit for the year through March. The government plans to push borrowing to a record in the next fiscal year as it tries to spend its way out of the pandemic-induced downturn.

#Saudi Pharma Retail Chain Al Dawaa Seeks $500 Million From IPO - Bloomberg

Saudi Pharma Retail Chain Al Dawaa Seeks $500 Million From IPO - Bloomberg

Al Dawaa Medical Services Co., one of the largest pharmaceutical retail companies in Saudi Arabia, is seeking to raise about $500 million from an IPO as more family-owned businesses list in the kingdom.

The initial public offering’s price range has been set at 65 riyals ($17.33) to 73 riyals, according to a statement. Institutional book-building for 25.5 million shares will start Sunday and ends Thursday, with a three-day subscription period for individual investors starting Feb. 27.

Share sales in Saudi Arabia have seen huge investor demand in the past year, with most IPOs getting priced at the top of offering ranges and then the shares surging on their trading debut. The Saudi benchmark index has jumped about 9% this year, extending its 2021 gains of 30%.

Al Nahdi Medical Co., the kingdom’s largest pharmacy retail chain, plans to seek about $1.3 billion in an IPO in the next few months in what could be the largest share sale in the kingdom since state oil giant Saudi Aramco went public in 2019, people familiar with the matter said earlier this month.

#SaudiArabia jails 11 people for laundering $2.7 bln - state TV | Reuters

Saudi Arabia jails 11 people for laundering $2.7 bln - state TV | Reuters

Eleven people including nine foreigners have been sentenced to jail in Saudi Arabia on charges of laundering ten billion riyals ($2.67 billion), state TV reported on Sunday quoting a prosecution statement.

The judiciary also ordered fines and the confiscation of funds and assets from seized investment portfolios, the report added.

#SaudiArabia transfers 4% of Aramco shares to sovereign wealth fund | Reuters

Saudi Arabia transfers 4% of Aramco shares to sovereign wealth fund | Reuters

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has transferred 4% of Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) to the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the government said on Sunday.

The nearly $80 billion worth of shares will bolster the PIF's strong financial position and high credit ratings in the medium term, the crown prince said in a statement. The fund is the prince's vehicle of choice to transform the Saudi economy and diversify away from oil revenues.

The state remains the largest shareholder in Saudi Aramco after the transfer process, as it retains more than 94% of the company's shares, the statement said.

The transfer of existing shares would help to boost PIF's assets under management, which are targeted to grow to about 4 trillion riyals ($1.07 trillion) by the end of 2025, it added.