Saudi Stocks Surge 64% in First Half

JEDDAH, 2 July 2005 — Saudi Arabia’s stock market kept its upward swing in the first half of this year with the Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed at 13,455.24 points compared with 5,712.74 for the same period of 2004, registering an increase of 64 percent.

The capitalization of the market reached SR1.94 trillion, posting an increase of 153 percent compared to the same period of last year, according to a report released by Tadawul.

The total value of shares traded during the first half of the year reached SR1.6 trillion compared to SR802 billion for the same period of 2004, showing an increase of 101 percent.

The total shares traded reached 5.3 billion compared to 5.5 billion for the same period of last year. The total number of transactions executed in the first six months of 2005 reached 16.1 million compared to 5.6 million in the same period of 2004, with an increase of 186 percent.

However, the index dropped 1.6 percent last week from 13,679.04 points previous week.

The fall of SABIC share prices by 2.8 percent had played a big role in driving down the index, especially after announcement that it would not be a party in the competition to purchase shares of the Egyptian Fertilizers Co.

The banking sector was the biggest loser last week as the prices of Al-Rajhi Banking and Investment Corp. lost 8.7 percent of its share value after making a 11 percent increase last week. The total value of shares exchanged last week reached SR82.4 billion compared to SR115.9 billion previous week, with SABIC accounting for 10 percent of the total.

New listings during the first half of this year include, the National Company for Cooperative Insurance (NCCI) which was listed under the new insurance sector with a paid up capital of SR500 million and 10 million shares. The company offered seven million shares to public at SR205 per share. It started trading effective Jan. 17 2005.

Bank Albilad closed its IPO last March. It was listed with a paid up capital of SR3 billion and 60 million shares. Albilad offered 30 million shares to public at SR50 per share. The bank started trading on April 30.

Saudia Dairy & Foodstuff Co. (SADAFCO) was listed with a paid up capital of SR325 million and 6.5 million shares. The company offered 1.95 million shares to public at SR260 per share. It started trading on May 23.

In another development, Riyad Bank increased its shares to 100 million by issuing one bonus share for every 4 held on Feb. 21, 2005.

The Saudi Investment Bank increased its shares to 34,375,000 by issuing one bonus share for every 4 shares held on Feb. 26, 2005.

Al-Rajhi increased its shares to 90 million shares by issuing one bonus share for every 1 share held on March 12, 2005.

Arab National Bank increased its shares to 50 million by issuing one bonus share for every 4 shares held on March 13, 2005.

Savola Group increased its shares to 25 million by issuing one bonus share for every 4 shares held on March 19, 2005.

Samba Financial Group increased its paid up capital by issuing one share for every two shares raising its total shares to 120 million effective April 1, 2005.

Saudi Industrial Investment Group (SIIG) increased its paid up capital by issuing one share for every two shares raising its total shares to 36 million effective April 12, 2005.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) increased its paid up capital by issuing one share for every three shares raising its total number of shares to 400 million effective April 16, 2005 and National Industrialization Co. increased its paid up capital by issuing three bonus shares for every five shares raising its total shares to 31.4 million effective May 31, 2005.