10 things to consider as Tadawul starts trading

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

1) Savola Group has incurred a net loss of SAR 84.3 million in the first quarter of 2018, against a net profit of SAR 4.8 million in Q1 2017, the company said in a stock market filing.

2) Jabal Omar Development Co. reported a net loss of SAR 128.2 million for Q1 2018, compared to a net profit of SAR 63.35 million a year earlier.

3) Bank Aljazira reported a net profit of SAR 245.3 million in Q1 2018, a rise of 13.6 percent year-on-year (YoY), thanks to higher operating income, special commission income and FX income.

4) Halwani Bros. reported a net profit of SAR 16.5 million for Q1 2018, a 19.12 percent YoY decrease due to higher cost of goods sold) in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as well as an increase in discounts in both countries.

5) Kingdom Holding Co. (KHC) reported a net profit of SAR 143 million for Q1 2018, an increase of 10.8 percent YoY, thanks to higher hotels and other operating revenue, dividend income and profit share from equity-accounted affiliates.

6) Jadwa REIT Al Haramain has acquired a commercial property in Makkah for SAR 35 million, Jadwa Investment, the fund manager, said in a statement to Tadawul.

7) Saudi Real Estate Co.’s (Al Akaria) board of directors has recommended a 5 percent cash dividend for the second half of 2017, at SAR 0.5 per share, amounting to SAR 60 million.

8) Nama Chemical Co. announced that its accumulated losses have reduced to 11.56 percent of capital at the end of Q1 2018 versus 24 percent by end of 2017.

Separately, the firm posted a net profit of SAR 28.16 million for Q1 2018, versus net losses of SAR 3.84 million in the same period last year.

9) Equity markets in the GCC region are expected to see “indirect” and “positive” impact from US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull his country out of the Iran nuclear deal, as the US move is expected to support a rise in oil prices.

10) Oil prices extended gains on Thursday after rising in the previous session, following President Donald Trump's decision to pull the US out of the Iran nuclear deal. Brent crude was last trading up 0.7 percent at $77.74/bbl while WTI crude rose 0.8 percent to $71.68/bbl.

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