First Mills debuts on Tadawul today

Logo of First Mills

First Milling Co. (First Mills) starts trading on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) today, June 22, with the symbol 2283 and ISIN Code SA15QGU13LH9, at SAR 60 a share.

The stock will have daily and static price fluctuation limits of ±30% and ±10%, respectively. These fluctuation limits will apply during the first three days of listing. From the fourth trading day onwards, the daily price fluctuation limits will revert to ±10% and the static price fluctuation limit will no longer apply.

First Mills is the fourth company to debut on Tadawul this year, after the listing of Al Mawarid Manpower Co.  on June 19, and Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals Factory Co. (Jamjoom Pharma) on June 20, and Morabaha Marina Financing Co. (MMFC) on June 21, besides the listing of Alinma Hospitality REIT Fund.

Last year, the Main Market witnessed 17 IPOs, namely, East Pipes Integrated Company for Industry, Scientific & Medical Equipment House Co., Elm Co., Al-Dawaa Medical Services Co., Al Masane Al Kobra Mining Co., Nahdi Medical Co., Saudi Home Loans Co., Retal Urban Development Co., Alamar Foods Co., Naqi Water Co., Arabian Drilling Co., Power and Utility Company for Jubail and Yanbu (MARAFIQ), Perfect Presentation for Commercial Services Co. (2P), Americana Restaurants International Plc (Americana Restaurants), Riyadh Cables Group Co., AlSaif Stores for Development & Investment Co.'s (Alsaif Gallery) and Saudi Aramco Base Oil Co. (Luberef).

First Mills will bring the total number of Tadawul-listed companies to 210, excluding 18 REITs.

The company offered 16.65 million shares, or 30% of its capital, at SAR 60 per share. 90% of offered shares were allocated to participating parties, while the remaining 10% were allocated to retail investors.

The retail tranche was 996.9% covered, while the tranche of participating parties was 68.9x oversubscribed.

A total of 334,020 retail investors submitted applications to shares worth about SAR 995.9 million.

Each retail investor received a minimum of four shares, while the remaining shares will be allocated pro rata, based on the demand size of every subscriber to total shares. The allotment ratio amounted to 2.1552%.

Company’s Profile:

First Mills is a Saudi closed joint stock company established in October 2016. The company headquarters is located in Jeddah Islamic Port, Jeddah, between the seventh and eighth gates next to the General Food Security Authority (GFSA).

The company started its operations in 1972 as a group of wheat mills affiliated with GFSA.

First Mills produces flour, feed and other wheat derivatives products.

In February 2022, the company launched its first retail brand, a premium flour brand that is available in supermarkets across the Kingdom.

The company is one of the largest manufacturers of flour products and flour by-products in terms of production volume and sales, as it had a market share estimated at more than 30% in the flour products market in the Kingdom in 2021.

The mills company sells more than 48 products, mostly flour products, and transports these to all regions of the Kingdom with a presence in four main regions: Makkah (Jeddah Governorate), Qassim Region (Buraydah Governorate), Tabuk Region (Tabuk City) and Eastern Province (Al Ahsa Governorate).

The company's sales are not limited to the areas of its main branches, and it is present in other regions through sales and distribution warehouses belonging to the company or its authorized distributors.

The company runs four branches – in Jeddah, Buraydah, Tabuk and Al Ahsa – with a total production capacity of about 4,200 tons of flour per day, and a total capacity to mix feed nearly 900 tons of feed per day.

The soon-to-be-listed firm employs 726 staff members, of whom 214 are Saudi nationals, and with a localization rate of up to 30%.