7 things you need to know on Tadawul today

1) Al Tayyar Travel Group on Thursday said it extended its travel services contract with the Ministry of Education by four months, effective Feb. 28, 2017.

2) Jabal Omar Development Co. on Wednesday said it received regulatory approval to widen the construction areas of phases 5,6, and 7 of its development project in Makkah. The project will spread over a 1.66 million square meter area from 1.17 million square meters.

3) Malath Insurance and Allied Cooperative are considering a potential merger, and have already agreed to launch feasibility studies. Earlier this month, Tadawul-listed companies Gulf General Cooperative Insurance and Al Ahlia Cooperative also said they had decided to start initial talks for a potential merger. Although the Saudi insurance market is one of the largest in the region, some of its smaller firms have suffered the erosion of 50 percent or more of their capital. 

4) Credit Agricole SA is considering selling its 31 percent stake in Banque Saudi Fransi for $2.4 billion (SAR 9 billion), Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

5) Saudi Steel Pipe Co.’s board of directors said it wouldn’t pay a dividend for fiscal year 2016, as the company did not make a profit. The board also approved converting a SAR 43.75 million loan, which was secured by its associate Global Pipe Co., into equity by raising the capital of GPC.

6) In a new report released on Wednesday, PwC said merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in Saudi Arabia is expected to pick up in the medium to long-term after a sluggish 2016, with consumer-led sectors seeing the most transactions.

7) Elsewhere, oil prices recovered slightly after tumbling 5 percent Wednesday to their lowest level yet this year as official data showed a surge in US inventories. This morning, Brent crude edged up 0.8 percent at $53.55 per barrel, while WTI was last up 0.6 percent at $50.99 a barrel.

Write to Reem Abdellatif at reem.a@argaam.com