Mideast Stocks: Energy stocks lift #Saudi, #Qatar extend losses

Mideast Stocks: Energy stocks lift Saudi, Qatar extend losses

Saudi Arabia's stock market ended higher on Thursday, with energy stocks giving the index a last-minute boost after oil prices surged to their highest in 2023 on tight supply outlook, while Qatar extended losses to a third session.

Oil prices, a key contributor to the Gulf economy, rose more than 1% to hit $93 a barrel for the first time this year. Brent crude was up 1.47% or $1.35 to $93.23 a barrel by GMT 1236.

Last minute momentum in energy sector stocks helped Saudi Arabia's benchmark index to recoup earlier losses as the index closed 0.3% higher.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco jumped 1.5%, while the world's largest Islamic lender Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation gained 0.9%. Alkhorayef Water And Power Technologies jumped 2.8% as the firm signed a 7.78 billion riyal ($2.07 billion) worth Rayis-Rabigh Independent Water Transmission Pipeline (IWTP) Project with Saudi Water Partnership Company.

Abu Dhabi's share index settled 0.4% higher, bolstered by a 0.7% hike in Conglomerate International Holding Co, while E& (formerly known as Etisalat) added 2.1%. 

Meanwhile, the Qatari index shed 0.5%, falling for the third session in a row, as Petrochemical maker Industries Qatar lost 1.7% and Islamic lender Qatar Islamic Bank slipped 0.7%.

Dubai's main index eased 0.4%, dragged down by a 0.8% decrease in Dubai Electricity And Water Authority and a 2.6% slump in Islamic lender Mashreq Bank.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index advanced 0.9%, lifted by a 1.5% jump in Commercial International Bank Egypt.

Real estate developer Talaat Mostafa Group Holding Co surged 11.7% to hit a more than six-year high, after signing an agreement on Monday with Saudi National Housing Company to develop a smart integrated and sustainable residential city with investment cost of SAR 40 billion riyals ($10.66 billion).

Oil Markets: For #SaudiArabia, $100-a-Barrel Is Already Here - Bloomberg

Oil Markets: For Saudi Arabia, $100-a-Barrel Is Already Here - Bloomberg

In the world of oil, there’s no such a thing as THE price. There are dozens of different measures, one for each variety of crude. The financial market focuses on two: Brent, and West Texas Intermediate, the grades traded in London and New York, respectively. They suggest a price hovering around $90 a barrel. But from the perspective of Saudi Arabia, oil is already touching $100.

The discrepancy reflects the pricing power that Saudi Arabia has gained over the last year-and-a-half. It has allowed Riyadh to charge a record premium for its oil, particularly for American and European customers seeking alternatives to Russian crude.

The surcharge matters because of the central role that Saudi Arabia plays in the market, pumping roughly one-in-10 barrels worldwide. Riyadh’s pricing strategy is stoking global inflationary pressures, potentially forcing central banks to keep interest rates higher for longer. At the same time, the geopolitical hand of Riyadh gets stronger.

On Wednesday, the price of Saudi’s flagship oil grade Arab Light rose to almost $98.47 a barrel in Europe, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Over the last 40 years, Arab Light has traded above $100 only a handful of times — in 2008, between 2012 and 2014, and in 2022.

#Saudi PIF-Backed Roshn Real Estate Lines Up $2.7 Billion for Building Spree - Bloomberg

Saudi PIF-Backed Roshn Real Estate Lines Up $2.7 Billion for Building Spree - Bloomberg

Roshn Real Estate Co., one of Saudi Arabia’s largest master developers, has lined up about 10 billion riyals ($2.67 billion) in funds as it gears up to work on a slew of projects across the kingdom.

The firm, owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, raised the financing after securing a 6 billion riyal revolving credit facility from three local banks earlier this year.

“We’ve got about 10 billion lined up in balance sheet credit although we haven’t drawn the first six yet because we actually have enough money within our business at the moment from our receipts,” Roshn Group Chief Executive Officer David Grover said in a recent interview. “But we will be drawing it down in the next three to nine months because we have some other investments that we need to make in terms of putting cash in to start projects.”

Roshn is building around 400,000 homes across the kingdom along with about 1,000 schools and entire commercial and entertainment districts. The developments are part of a plan by the country’s de-facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to upgrade infrastructure in the world’s biggest oil exporter to help diversify the economy away from its reliance on hydrocarbon wealth.

The developer’s financial planning is very much structured to “make sure that we don’t have to slow down our journey at all if for any reason the funder wants to stop putting any cash into our business for two years,” Grover said.

Caesars Palace Exits #Dubai Just as the #UAE Moves Toward Legalized Gaming - Bloomberg

Caesars Palace Exits Dubai Just as the UAE Moves Toward Legalized Gaming - Bloomberg

Caesars Palace, one of the best-known names in casino gambling, will leave Dubai just as the United Arab Emirates develops a framework for legalized betting.

The resort, located on a manmade island, will be rebranded in November as a Banyan Tree property, according to a statement. The deal was formalized in an agreement signed on Wednesday between hotel giant Accor SA and Dubai Holding, an investment firm owned by the emirate's ruler.

The United Arab Emirates this month announced it had set up a regulator for legalized gaming and lotteries, led by casino industry veterans.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. is planning a $3.9 billion gaming resort in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, which is north of Dubai. The company’s chief executive officer, Craig Billings, said last month that he expected to receive a gaming license “imminently.”

There’s been speculation over whether casinos will come to Dubai. Several properties appear to be poised to capitalize on the development if it comes, but city officials have said they are undecided.

A spokeswoman for Caesars Entertainment Inc. didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Caesars Palace opened in Dubai in 2018 with the goal of opening a casino, Caesars Entertainment CEO Thomas Reeg said during an earnings call in 2022.

“That was the original thought when Caesars struck that deal in Dubai, that maybe ultimately, the UAE would have gaming,” he said. “If there’s an opportunity, you should expect that we would be active and our brand and building is already open.”

The Banyan Tree project is the first of several in the pipeline in partnership with Dubai Holding, according to Accor.

#AbuDhabi's Mubadala Capital Taps Apollo to Back Bespoke Investments - Bloomberg

Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Capital Taps Apollo to Back Bespoke Investments - Bloomberg

Mubadala Capital is launching an investment business that it hopes will appeal to family offices and institutions, with strategic partner Apollo Global Management Inc. already signed up to invest.

The Abu Dhabi asset manager is seeding the first strategy within its Mubadala Capital Solutions unit with $2.7 billion from its balance sheet, according to a statement Thursday. Apollo has agreed to contribute an undisclosed sum to this strategy, which will focus on private market opportunities.

The unit will also run separately-managed accounts for investors with specific risk and liquidity requirements. Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners — Mubadala Capital’s joint venture with Alpha Wave that has $1.7 billion of assets under management — will run a separate strategy, investing in firms in the emirate’s international financial free zone.

Mubadala Capital Solutions will be co-headed by Maxime Franzetti, a founding member of Mubadala Capital, and Fatima Al Noaimi, previously a senior member of Mubadala Capital’s private equity business, it said.

Mubadala Investment Co., Abu Dhabi’s second-biggest sovereign wealth fund, has been building up its asset management arm to run about $20 billion for itself and outside investors. It’s aiming to expand its operations and plans to take a majority stake in US-based Fortress Investment Group.

Apollo, meanwhile, has teamed up with Mubadala on several ventures since agreeing to work together in 2020, including a $2.5 billion private credit platform earlier this year.

#Dubai Sustainable City Developer SEE Holding Considering 2024 IPO - Bloomberg

Dubai Sustainable City Developer SEE Holding Considering 2024 IPO - Bloomberg

SEE Holding, which developed the Middle East’s first residential community to achieve net zero, is considering an initial public offering of its business including The Sustainable City entity, according to people familiar with the matter.

The firm, which specializes in sustainable developments, climate change investments and sustainable engineering, is in talks to select international and local banks as advisers for the potential listing that could happen as early as next year, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.

SEE Holding plans to include its engineering, design and advisory units in the listing, as well as its sustainability city development business, the people said. Details such as the venue, size and timing of the deal are still being discussed and may change, they said.

Under The Sustainable City brand and via its Diamond Developers entity, SEE Holding is building residential communities which are compliant with the Paris Agreement that aims to limit global warming. In Dubai, their first sustainable community generates its own power with about 500 villas fitted with solar panels. It also has 11 biodome greenhouses and an urban farm running the full length of the development.

#Saudi bourse gains on rising oil prices; #Qatar extends losses | Reuters

Saudi bourse gains on rising oil prices; Qatar extends losses | Reuters

Saudi Arabia's stock market rose in early trade on Thursday, tracking oil prices and helped by gains in energy and material sector stocks, while the Qatar bourse was on track to extend losses to a third session.

Oil prices, a key catalyst for Gulf's financial market, gained on Thursday as markets turned their attention back to a tighter crude supply outlook for the rest of 2023, with demand set to stay robust through to next year.

Brent crude was up 0.69%, or $0.63 to $92.51 a barrel by 0800 GMT.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) rose 0.1%, helped by a 0.6% gain in Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) and a 2.2% jump in health insurer Bupa Arabia For Cooperative Insurance (8210.SE).

Alkhorayef Water And Power Technologies (2081.SE) jumped 3.3% after the firm signed a 7.78 billion riyals ($2.07 billion) worth Rayis-Rabigh Independent Water Transmission Pipeline (IWTP) Project with Saudi Water Partnership Company.

Separately, Saudi Arabia's annual inflation eased to 2% in August, from 2.3% the previous month, government data showed on Thursday, continuing its downwards trend this year.

Abu Dhabi's share index (.FTFADGI) edged up 0.1%, as International Holding Co (IHC.AD) rose 0.3% and IHC-owned Alpha Dhabi Holding (ALPHADHABI.AD) firmed 0.5%.

Dubai's main index (.DFMGI), meanwhile, eased 0.3%, dragged by a 1.2% slide in state-run utility firm Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWAA.DU) and 2.6% decline in Islamic lender Mashreqbank (MASB.DU).

The Qatari index (.QSI) dropped 0.3% as a majority of its stocks were in the red, including petrochemical maker Industries Qatar (IQCD.QA) which slipped 0.8%, while Qatar Electricity and Water Co (QEWC.QA) dipped 1%.

#Saudi inflation eases further in August to 2%-govt data | Reuters

Saudi inflation eases further in August to 2%-govt data | Reuters

Saudi Arabia's annual inflation eased to 2% in August, from 2.3% the previous month, government data showed on Thursday, continuing its downwards trend this year.

The main driver of inflation remained increasing housing rents which rose 10.8%, weighing on overall higher prices of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels which grew 9%, the General Authority for Statistics reported.

Food and beverage prices, the leading driver for price increases for much of last year, ticked up 0.4%, and transport prices grew 0.5%, while prices for clothing and footwear, and furnishings and household equipment decreased.

The IMF projects headline inflation to average 2.8% in 2023, before easing to 2.3% in 2024.

#Saudi-backed oil and gas driller ADES expected to price IPO at top of range | Reuters

Saudi-backed oil and gas driller ADES expected to price IPO at top of range | Reuters

Oil and gas driller ADES Holding is expected to price its initial public offering (IPO) at the top of a range announced this week, one of the banks on the deal said on Thursday.

The company backed by Saudi Arabia's PIF sovereign wealth fund is expected to price its shares at 13.50 riyals ($3.60), the bank said in a message to investors seen by Reuters.

ADES is set to raise as much as 4.57 billion riyals ($1.22 billion) from the sale of a 30% stake in the company through the public share sale.

It began marketing the IPO on Sunday, seeking 12.50 riyals to 13.50 riyals a share.

Reuters reported in November that the planned IPO could fetch more than $1 billion, citing sources close to the matter.

ADES is the second company to seek a flotation on the Saudi Exchange since the summer. Saudi Arabian auto rental company Lumi priced at the top of the range for its IPO last week, giving it a valuation of 3.63 billion riyals ($967.8 million).