#Saudi, #Qatar ends higher as China scraps COVID curbs | Reuters

Saudi, Qatar ends higher as China scraps COVID curbs | Reuters

The Saudi and Qatari stock markets finished higher on Sunday after China scrapped COVID curbs, bolstering expectations of a demand recovery in the world's second-largest economy, while Egypt and UAE markets were closed.

Oil prices, which fuels the region's growth, were little changed on Friday close as the market balanced a weaker U.S. dollar and mixed U.S. jobs reports. Brent futures fell 12 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $78.57 a barrel on Friday.

Meanwhile world's top crude exporter, Saudi Arabia, lowered prices for the Arab light crude it sells to Asia to its lowest since November 2021 amid the global pressures hitting oil.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) edged up 0.1% led by a 2.6% jump in state-owned mining company Saudi Arabian Mining Co(Ma'aden) (1211.SE).

Among other active stocks, IT service management firm Perfect Presentation For Commercial Services (7204.SE) close 0.8% higher, paring gains after rising as much as 2.7% in today trade after it obtained an IT services contract worth 43.9 million riyals ($11.68 million).

The benchmark stock index in Qatar (.QSI) gained 1.4%, supported by its Industrial and financial stocks as petrochemical maker Industries Qatar (IQCD.QA) jumped 3.1% while lender Masraf Al Rayan (MARK.QA) was up 2.5%.

Meanwhile Qatari IT services firm MEEZA will be the first company in the country to use book building to carry out an initial public offering, it said in a statement on Sunday, as Qatar aligns itself with international practices.

#AbuDhabi’s StanChart Interest Showcases Global Ambitions - Bloomberg

Abu Dhabi’s StanChart Interest Showcases Global Ambitions - Bloomberg

In April, First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC pulled a $1 billion deal to acquire Egypt’s biggest investment bank. Just months later, it set its sights much higher.

FAB, which has grown into the Middle East’s largest bank by assets since it was created through a merger about six years ago, said on Thursday it explored a bid for Standard Chartered Plc, but that it’s no longer considering an offer for the London-based lender.

A successful deal would have catapulted the regional champion into an emerging markets banking giant with more than $1 trillion in assets — about a third of the size of HSBC Holdings Plc — and would have been the biggest foreign takeover by a company in the Gulf region.

FAB’s exploration of Standard Chartered highlights the growing ambition of Middle East lenders and the wealthy oil-rich nations that back them. It also showcases Abu Dhabi’s aspirations to play a bigger role on the international stage and would have marked a turning point in Chief Executive Officer Hana Al Rostamani’s two-year reign.

#Qatar Energy, Chevron Phillips ink $6 billion Ras Laffan Petrochemicals deal | Reuters

QatarEnergy, Chevron Phillips ink $6 billion Ras Laffan Petrochemicals deal | Reuters

QatarEnergy announced on Sunday the final investment decision on the $6 billion Ras Laffan Petrochemicals Complex with partner Chevron Pillips Chemical which is expected to be the largest of its kind in the Middle East.

The complex, expected to begin production in 2026, includes an ethane cracker with a capacity of 2.1 million tonnes of ethylene per year.

The integrated compelx will also include two high density polyethylene derivative units with a total proudction capacity of 1.7 million tonnes per year, QatarEnergy chief Saad al-Kaabi Kaabi said.

Originally announced in 2019, the project highlights how Middle East oil producers are expanding further into petrochemicals, used in the production of plastics and packaging materials, to move into new markets and find new sources of income beyond exporting crude oil and natural gas.

IT services firm to be #Qatar's first to use book building for IPO | Reuters

IT services firm to be Qatar's first to use book building for IPO | Reuters

Qatari IT services firm MEEZA will be the first company in the country to use book building to carry out an initial public offering, it said in a statement on Sunday, as Qatar aligns itself with international practices.

The company, part-owned by telecom operator Ooredoo (ORDS.QA), said it is selling 50% of its share capital in a public-share sale with a planned listing on the Qatar Stock Exchange.

The IPO process, which begins this month, will allow the company to offer a price range to test investors’ appetite and determine the IPO price.

The offering's price range is between 2.61 riyals ($0.7135) to 2.81 riyals per share, which could raise between 846 million and 911 million riyals.

The #UAE business that went from obscurity to a $240bn valuation in 3 years | Financial Times

The UAE business that went from obscurity to a $240bn valuation in 3 years | Financial Times

Three years ago, International Holding Company was a little known company that ran fish farms and food and real estate businesses. It employed just 40 people. Today, the Abu Dhabi-listed group’s market capitalisation of $240bn is more than double that of global giants Siemens and GE and it has a headcount of 150,000. 

It is an extraordinary transformation that has largely gone unnoticed outside the United Arab Emirates, and is little understood — even by bankers based in the region. 

“Nobody knows,” said one Gulf-based international banker when asked to explain IHC’s dramatic growth. It is a common response to questions about the conglomerate, despite it accounting for a third of the FADX 15, the benchmark index of the ADX Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. As its share price has soared 42,000 per cent since 2019, it has become the second largest listed company in the Middle East after Saudi Aramco, the state oil company. 

Even Syed Basar Shueb, who took over as IHC’s chief executive in mid-2019, acknowledged that “it’s amazing”.