Arab News, Monday, Feb 20, 2023 | Rajab 29, 1444
Closing bell: Saudi bourse sheds 55 points as food index takes a hit
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index on Sunday
lost 55.28 points — or 0.52 percent — to close at 10,493.17.
While MSCI Tadawul 30 Index fell 0.53 percent to
1,436.68, the parallel market Nomu rose 0.59 percent to 19,371.57.
TASI’s total trading turnover of the benchmark
index was SR3.18 billion ($850 million) as 52 stocks of the listed 224 advanced
and 157 receded.
Among sectoral indices, 13 of the 21 listed on the
stock exchange advanced while the rest declined.
The Food & Staples Retailing Index went down as
the worst-performing sector as five of its six constituents fell, finishing 226
points lower to 9,209.35
Alamar Foods Co. was the worst performer on Sunday
as its share price plunged 5.04 percent to SR154.40.
National Co. for Learning and Education, Etihad
Atheeb Telecommunication Co. and Al Gassim Investment Holding Co. fell by about
4 percent to SR82.40, SR62.30 and SR24.80, respectively.
Astra Industrial Group was the best performer on
Sunday as its share price surged 4.73 percent to SR57.60.
Other top performers of the day were Alinma
Hospitality REIT Fund, Americana Restaurants International, Etihad Etisalat Co.
and Halwani Bros. Co.
On the announcements front, Almarai Co. informed
the Saudi Stock Exchange that its subsidiary, Almarai Investment Holding Co., on
Feb. 17, purchased 48 percent of PepsiCo’s ownership in International Dairy and
Juice Ltd for SR255 million.
The deal raises Almarai’s shareholding in IDJ to
100 percent from 52 percent, the company said in a statement to Tadawul.
The company funded the purchase through its
internal cash flows, and the full ownership of IDJ will allow it to widen its
presence in the region.
IDJ was a joint venture between Almarai and
PepsiCo. Its principal activities consist of manufacturing and distribution of
food & beverage in Egypt and Jordan and exporting worldwide.
The statement added that PepsiCo remained a
trusted and valued partner since the formation of the joint venture in 2009.
Almarai Co.’s share price increased slightly to close at SR55.30.
Retal Urban Development Co. also announced that it
purchased land plots in Al-Muhammadiyah in Jeddah, for SR143.8 million,
excluding the real estate transaction tax.
The statement said that the company purchased land
plots of over 23,970 sq. m from Al-Nahla Trading and Contracting Co.
Retal said the purchase would be financed through
available credit facilities and internal resources and aimed to develop
residential villas on these plots.
The deal was executed without any preferential
conditions, the statement added. Retal’s share price, however, fell 2.2 percent
to SR129.20.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Services
Group’s board of directors recommended a 9.3 percent cash dividend, at SR0.93
per share, totaling SR325.50 million, for the fourth quarter of 2022.
The company will release the dividends on March
13. Its share price, however, slipped marginally to close at SR240.80.