RIYADH: As the world embraces the most tech-savvy era, Riyadh-based solutions by stc has managed to make digitalization more relevant in Saudi Arabia.
Worth over SR24 billion ($6.4 billion), the company leverages modern techniques to enrich its portfolio with innovative products and services, aimed at revolutionizing traditional businesses.
The company known as 'solutions by stc' took a leap last year when it struck a stellar initial public offering on Saudi Arabia’s main stock index TASI.
It has seen strong interest from investors regionally and globally, after raising SR3.6 billion in an IPO, which the company’s CEO Omar Al-Noamani said would position the company as a top digital enabler in the region.
Investor bids in the IPO surpassed the offered shares by 130 times, attracting more orders than oil giant Saudi Aramco’s offering, Bloomberg reported.
The dividend policy, which is yet to be announced, will depend on performance evaluation and growth rates, Al-Noamani earlier told CNBC Arabia in an interview.
Since its stock market debut, solutions by stc has closed in on major milestones.
Shares have soared 22 percent since then, to reach SR202 on Jan. 27, 2022.
It posted more than a 14 percent increase in profits in the first nine months of 2021, compared to a year earlier, up to SR718 million, and revenues hit SR5.76 billion in the same period.
The company has also secured several contracts worth millions of riyals. One of many is a SR201 million deal with Saudi Telecom Co. to build a data center in NEOM’s Telco Park’s digital platform.
On a broader scale, Saudi Arabia’s information and communications technology sector has a strong prospect for growth. It hit a volume of SR33.8 billion in 2018 and is forecasted to reach SR53.1 billion by 2025, according to stc.
Amid a sectoral boom, the Kingdom was ranked first among 140 nations for its digital competitiveness in 2020.
It beat France, China, and Indonesia to claim the top spot among the G20 member states, after being named “Top Digital Riser”, a statement by Saudi Press Agency revealed.
The local ICT industry represents a key driver of Vision 2030 blueprint for economic and social reform, as it helps Saudi diversify away from oil and brings it closer to becoming the future digital hub.
The Riyadh-based solutions by stc, formally known as Arabian Internet and Communications Services Co., represents the internet services arm of the Kingdom’s largest telecom operator, Saudi Telecom Co.
It is 79 percent owned by stc and holds a market share of 13 percent in the local ICT sector, according to its website.
Saudi Telecom Co. owns and manages a tech venture capital fund that empowers entrepreneurs across the GCC, wider MENA region, and Turkey to set up technology businesses.
Headquartered in Riyadh, STC Ventures, or STV, marked the Middle East’s largest venture capital fund when it was established with a size of $500 million.
