Combined debt of Saudi-listed companies falls 2% in Q1

The combined debt of Saudi-listed companies fell to SAR 637.1 million in Q1 2018, a 2.1 percent decline from the previous quarter.

The amount represents 16.2 percent of the companies’ combined assets of SAR 3.9 trillion, Al Eqtisadiyah newspaper reported, based on data from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) and Tadawul.

The combined debt also represents 57.7 percent of their combined shareholders equity of SAR 1.1 trillion, dropping from 64.1 percent in Q4 2017 due to the growth in shareholders’ equity.

The ratios of total debt to total assets and total shareholders' equity in Q1 2018 are the lowest in the last five quarters, according to available data.

Total assets of listed companies edged up by 0.33 percent to SAR 3.9 trillion while total shareholders’ equity increased by SAR 411 million to SAR 1.1 billion.

The basic materials, utilities and banking sectors has the largest debt amounts at SAR 207.1 billion, SAR 156.8 billion and SAR 120.56 billion, respectively, accounting for 76 percent of total debt of all sectors in the main market.