RIYADH, 4 October 2007 — Riyad Bank, Saudi Arabia’s fourth largest bank by market value, said it made a third quarter net profit of SR716 million ($190.9 million), up 10 percent from the year-earlier period. A statement on the bourse website said operating income was 3.83 billion riyals in the nine months to September, up 6 percent year-on-year. Analysts had forecast the bank’s third quarter earnings ranged from SR731.37 million to SR839 million, according to a Reuters survey last month. Riyad Bank outperformed listed Saudi banks in earnings growth in the second quarter of this year when its net profit rose 24.3 percent to SR848 million.
IPO of Al-Khaleej Training, MESC OK’d
Arab News
RIYADH — The Capital Market Authority issued permission to two Saudi companies to launch 30 percent of their total stocks in initial public offering (IPO) on Nov. 5-12. Al-Khaleej Training and Education Co. will offer 2,400,000 shares while Middle East Specialized Cables Co. (MESC) will offer 9,600,000 shares. A part of the shares will be allocated to investment funds and companies. The two companies will have to publish the details about them before the launch for investors’ knowledge, according to a report posted on the Tadawul website yesterday.
CMA Issues M&A Rules
Arab News
RIYADH — The Capital Market Authority (CMA) issued statutes governing merger and acquisitions by companies listed in the Saudi stock market yesterday. The order deals with all the rules related to offer, takeover, announcements, and dos and don’ts in such deals. The statutes also describe the terms and conditions of obligatory offers and optional offers for merger, the mode of payment, commitment to the competition system, etc. Details are available at www.cma.org.sa/cma_cms/upload_sec-content/dwfile277/Final.pdf, according to Tadawul website yesterday.
Bahrain-US Trade to Exceed $1.2bn
Walid Mazi, Arab News
MANAMA — The volume of bilateral trade between Bahrain and the US will exceed $1.2 billion by the end of this year, said US ambassador Joseph Ereli. “The US investment in the kingdom would be double in the next stage as leaders of both sides are keen to boost the free trade agreement signed in August 2006,” he said. He noted that the bilateral trade between the two countries had increased by nearly 1.9 percent to $661 million during the last seven months of the year 2006, which is likely to cross $721 million during the same period this year. He said a number of US firms are keen to invest in Bahrain in various fields and are eager to open their production units and offices in the kingdom. “The bilateral trade relations between the two countries are strengthening and its potential should be exploited within the parameter of FTA,” he said. “Bahrain enjoys more openness as compared to other countries in the region.”
Amlak Finance Net Profit Soars
Arab News
DUBAI — Amlak Finance, publicly listed Islamic Home Finance Company offering Shariah solutions, showed a net profit of AED67 million in the third quarter of 2007, up 98 percent against the same period last year, the company said in its preliminary results. Revenue over the quarter reached AED155 million, up 59 percent in the period under review. The company achieved 50 percent growth in the first nine months of this year with AED173 million net profit. This is in part due to a 43 percent growth in revenue from financing activities, underlining Amlak’s focus on its core business activities. “These record results that the company has achieved will support our position as a leader in the property financing market,” said Nasser Bin Hassan Al-Shaikh, chairman, Amlak Finance.
Al-Habtoor Motors Logistics Center
Arab News
DUBAI — Al-Habtoor Motors yesterday signed an agreement with Dubai Industrial City, a member of Tatweer, to build an AED350 million services, distribution and warehousing center in the city’s transport zone. Spread over three million square feet area, the facility will be fully operational by the second half of 2009. The deal was signed by Rashed Al-Ansari, chief executive officer of Dubai Industrial City, and Ahmed Al-Habtoor, chief executive officer of Al-Habtoor Motors, the exclusive dealers for Bentley, Aston Martin and Mitsubishi vehicles in the UAE. Al-Habtoor Motors will build a pre-delivery inspection center, a spare parts warehouse and distribution center, a Mitsubishi vehicle center, a vehicle storage facility, in addition to workshops that meet the professional standards of Bentley, Aston Martin, Mitsubishi Motors and Temsa.
DMCC, Shariah Capital in Deal
Arab News
DUBAI — The Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC) and Shariah Capital, Inc., have signed an agreement to explore the development of Shariah-compliant investment products based on hard assets such as commodities and precious metals, a joint statement said yesterday. A US-based organization with a DIFC-registered office in Dubai, Shariah Capital Inc. is a multidimensional company that creates and customizes Shariah-compliant financial products and provides Shariah-compliant consulting and advisory related services.