9 things to consider as Tadawul starts trading

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

1) Alawwal Bank has reported a reduction in its shareholders’ equity by SAR 451 million in Q1 2018, as a result of the application of IFRS 9 standard.

2) Saudi British Bank (SABB) has reported a reduction in its shareholders’ equity by SAR 1.65 billion in Q1 2018, as a result of the application of IFRS 9 standard.

3) National Gas & Industrialization Co. (GASCO) has recommended a 4 percent cash dividend for each quarter of fiscal year 2018, at SAR 0.4 per share.

4) National Metal Manufacturing & Casting Co. (Maadaniyah) has approved a 2.5 percent cash dividend for 2017, at SAR 0.25 per share, amounting to SAR 7.03 million.

5) Derayah REIT has signed a binding agreement with Al-Khalijia Real Estate to acquire the latter’s building in Al-Khobar for a total value of SAR 38 million, the fund manager Derayah Financial Corporation said in a statement.

6) Canada’s TMX Group Ltd is continuing to hold talks with Saudi Aramco to get the oil producer to list on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), its CEO Lou Eccleston told Reuters.

7) Saudi Arabia's General Culture Authority (GCA) and Canada's IMAX Corporation have signed a non-binding agreement to jointly seek opportunities to identify and develop local IMAX-format films in Kingdom.

8) Saudi Arabia’s fiscal deficit widened to $9.2 billion year-on-year (YoY) in Q1 2018 from $7 billion, validating its "strategy towards enhancing real GDP growth", MUFG Bank said in a recent report.

9) Oil prices were lower on Monday, following the rally last week after US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal. Brent crude was last trading down 0.7 percent at $76.69/bbl, while WTI crude fell 0.4 percent to $70.44/bbl.

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