Closing bell: Saudi bourse slips nine points to 10,784 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index fell 9.12 points — or 0.08 percent — on Wednesday to close at 10,783.73. 

MSCI Tadawul 30 Index and the parallel market Nomu closed flat at 1,489.74 and 19,147.98, respectively. 

TASI’s total trading turnover of the benchmark index on Wednesday was SR3.67 billion ($1.22 billion), with 97 stocks of the listed 224 advancing and 114 retreating. 

Salama Cooperative Insurance Co. was the topmost gainer of the day, rising 8.77 percent to SR12.40. 

The other top gainers were Abdulmohsen Alhokair Group for Tourism and Development, Arabian Pipes Co., Alinma Tokio Marine Co. and Saudi Chemical Co.. 

The worst performer was Saudi Industrial Investment Group, which fell 4.6 percent to SR23.66.  

SIIG reported a net profit after zakat and tax of SR277 million for 2022, down 76 percent from SR1.13 billion in 2021. 

The company said the decline was fueled by its share of profit in jointly managed projects decreasing in 2022 due to lower margins led by higher feedstock costs and weaker selling prices.  

It also turned to a net loss after zakat and tax of SR296 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, from a profit of SR121.65 million in the same period a year earlier.  

The other stocks that performed poorly included Taleem REIT Fund, United International Transportation Co., Advanced Petrochemical Co. and Wataniya Insurance Co. 

Among sectoral indices, 12 of the 21 listed on the stock exchange advanced, while the rest declined. 

On the announcements front, Alwasail Industrial Co. informed the stock exchange that it signed a contract with Saudi Basic Industries Corp. on Jan. 31 to finance raw materials for manufacturing activities and products, including polyethylene pipes and its derivatives, at its factories at an estimated value of SR300 million. 

The contract’s term is one year, starting from Jan. 1, 2023, the company said in a statement on Tadawul. 

The agreement includes financing raw materials equivalent to about 60,000 metric tons for manufacturing and products at the company’s factories, including polyethylene pipes and their derivatives. The materials are used in more than 90 percent of its products. Alwasail Industrial’s share price soared 15.37 percent to SR21.62. 

Meanwhile, Allianz Saudi Fransi Cooperative Insurance Co. informed Tadawul that it obtained on Jan. 31 the final approval of the Saudi Central Bank on the comprehensive motor product provided to the individual as well as the group categories, in line with the comprehensive motor insurance rules issued by the central bank on Nov. 8, 2022. The company’s share price picked up 0.68 percent to SR14.90. 

On the dividends front, Saudi Top for Trading Co.’s shareholders approved the board’s recommendation to pay a cash dividend of 120 percent, or SR12 per share, for 2022. These dividends are payable to public shareholders, excluding Abdullah AlAjmi, who waived his profit for 2022. Yet, Saudi Top’s share price plunged 9.46 percent to SR101.40.