10 things to consider as Tadawul starts trading

Here are a few things you need to know as Saudi stocks start trading on Wednesday.

1) EFG Hermes has revised up its outlook for Saudi Arabia to overweight from neutral, ahead of the Kingdom's proposed inclusion in the MSCI and FTSE emerging market indexes, the Egyptian investment bank said in a note.

2) The pilot program for cross-border payments by Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) and US-based Ripple will be credit positive for the banking industry, leading to savings of $200 million to $400 million per year, Moody's Investors Service said in a report.

3) The Saudi finance ministry has sold SAR 7.22 billion ($1.93 billion) of domestic sukuk in its monthly sale by reopening an issue it made last month, the ministry said in a statement.

4) Saudi British Bank (SABB) reported a net profit of SAR 706 million for Q4 2017, an increase of 16.3 percent year-on-year (YoY), which was attributed to higher operating income on increased net commission income.

5) Saudi Investment Bank's (SAIB) net profit for Q4 2017 rose 16.5 percent YoY to SAR 351.9 million, attributed to an 18.9 percent increase in gross operating income.

6) Saudi Arabian Mining Company's (Maaden) subsidiary Maaden Phosphate Company (MPC) has successfully completed its SAR 3.5 billion ($933.3 million) sukuk offering.

7) BATIC Investment & Logistics Co.’s board of directors has recommended a 25 percent capital hike to SAR 300 million from SAR 240 million, through the issue of one bonus share for every four shares held.

Separately, the company posted a net profit of SAR 12.4 million for Q4 2017, against a loss of SAR 16.5 million in the same period last year.

8) Bank Albilad would have to pay an additional zakat claim of SAR 615.3 million for the years 2006-2014, after the zakat authority applied a new accounting method to the long-term investments of banks, according to the lender's financial statements.

9) Tabuk Cement Co. has renewed its exporting license for one year as of February 18, the cement producer said. Relevant financial impact will be announced in due course.

10) Oil prices declined on Wednesday. Brent crude was last trading lower by 0.7 percent at $64.81/bbl while WTI crude fell 0.9 percent to $61.24/bbl.

Write to Nadeshda Zareen at nadeshda.zareen@argaamplus.com