Arab News, Sunday, Aug 14, 2022 | Muharram 16, 1444
Saudi stock exchange Tadawul sees profit declining 23% amid record IPO listings
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Tadawul Group
Holding Co., owner of the Kingdom’s bourse, has posted a 23-percent first-half
profit drop amid a record year of initial public offerings.
The group made SR278 million ($74 million) in
profit during the first half of 2022, down from SR362 million in the same period
last year, it said in a bourse filing.
This was coupled with an 8.3 percent decline in
revenue to SR592 million, mainly due to the decrease in trading services and
post-trade services.
Higher salaries and employee-related benefits
further weighed on profit during the six-month period, leading to a rise of 9.8
percent in expenses to SR301 million.
The chairman of the Capital Market Authority,
Mohammed Elkuwaiz, had earlier told Arab News that Saudi IPOs are on course for
a record year, adding that the number of listings in the first half of 2022 has
already surpassed those of last year.
Commenting on the results, CEO Khalid Al-Hussan
said: “Testament to the avid growth and diversification of our market and its
attractiveness is the growing number of IPOs during the first half of the year,
resulting in 246 listed companies on both the main market and Nomu – Parallel
Market.”
Tadawul also launched single stock futures
contracts earlier this year as its second derivatives product.