logo
Closing Bell: Saudi main index slips to close at 11,438

Closing Bell: Saudi main index slips to close at 11,438

Arab News18-05-2025

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index slipped on Sunday, losing 46.11 points, or 0.40 percent, to close at 11,438.94.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR3.68 billion ($983 million), as 85 of the stocks advanced and 153 retreated.
Similarly, the Kingdom's parallel market Nomu lost 185.50 points, or 0.67 percent, to close at 27,655.56. This comes as 26 of the listed stocks advanced while 52 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index lost 6.21 points, or 0.42 percent, to close at 1,456.55.
The best-performing stock of the day was Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication Co., whose share price surged 6.44 percent to SR102.40.
Other top performers included Miahona Co., with its share price rising 4.59 percent to SR26.00, and Middle East Paper Co., which surged 4.55 percent to SR29.85.
SICO Saudi REIT Fund recorded the most significant drop, falling 5.72 percent to SR4.45.
Saudi Advanced Industries Co. also saw its stock prices fall 5.11 percent to SR26.95.
Jabal Omar Development Co. also saw its stock prices decline 3.38 percent to SR24.00.
On the announcements front, Bank Albilad raised $650 million from its US dollar-denominated additional tier 1 sukuk issuance. According to a Tadawul statement, the total number of sukuk stands at 3,250 with a par value of $200,000, a return of 6.5 percent per annum, and perpetual maturity.
Bank Albilad ended the session at SR27.10, down 0.74 percent.
Sadara Basic Services Co. reported a net loss of SR1.26 billion for the first quarter of 2025, marking a 48 percent increase from the same period last year, according to a bourse filing.
The company attributed the deeper loss primarily to planned turnaround activities during the quarter, though this was partially offset by lower feedstock consumption and reduced interest expenses.
Rawasi Albina Investment Co. announced the completion of the memorandum of association and commercial registration of its new wholly owned subsidiary, Nemo Al Jazirah Co., with a capital of SR5,000.
According to a Tadawul statement, the limited liability company will begin operations after finalizing all administrative and technical incorporation requirements.
Shares of Rawasi Albina Investment Co. closed at SR4.00, gaining 2.25 percent.
Middle East Pharmaceutical Industries Co. has renewed a Shariah-compliant credit facility agreement with Alinma Bank for SR50 million.
According to a stock exchange disclosure, the one-year financing is backed by a promissory note worth SR55 million. The facility will be used to support the company's working capital and asset financing needs.
Shares of the company ended the session at SR126.60, down 0.32 percent.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

US mulls giving millions to controversial Gaza aid foundation, sources say
US mulls giving millions to controversial Gaza aid foundation, sources say

Arab News

time2 hours ago

  • Arab News

US mulls giving millions to controversial Gaza aid foundation, sources say

WASHINGTON: The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former US officials, a move that would involve the US more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos. The sources and former US officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the US State Department. The plan has met resistance from some US officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said. The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume. The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs. The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites. On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an 'economic interest' in the for-profit US contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF's aid distribution hubs in the enclave. While US President Donald Trump's administration and Israel say they don't finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it. The US and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established UN aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that. USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump's drive to align US foreign policy with his 'America First' agenda. One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency's dismemberment. The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF's operations for 180 days. The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The two sources said that some US officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF's contractor, and violence nearby. Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said. Gaza hospital officials have said more than 80 people had been shot dead and hundreds wounded near GHF's distribution points between June 1-3. Since launching its operation, the GHF has opened three hubs, but over the past two days, only two of them have been functioning. Witnesses blamed Israeli soldiers for the killings. The Israeli military said it fired warning shots on two days, while on Tuesday it said soldiers had fired at Palestinian 'suspects' advancing toward their positions.

Iraq frees Australian, Egyptian engineers after four years, but keeps travel ban
Iraq frees Australian, Egyptian engineers after four years, but keeps travel ban

Arab News

time5 hours ago

  • Arab News

Iraq frees Australian, Egyptian engineers after four years, but keeps travel ban

BAGHDAD: Iraq has released an Australian mechanical engineer and his Egyptian colleague who were detained for more than four years over a dispute with the central bank, authorities said Friday, though the two remain barred from leaving the country. Robert Pether and Khalid Radwan were working for an engineering company contracted to oversee the construction of the bank's new Baghdad headquarters, according to a United Nations report, when they were arrested in April 2021. A report from a working group for the UN Human Rights Council said the arrests stemmed from a contractual dispute over 'alleged failure to execute certain payments.' Both men were sentenced to five years in prison and fined $12 million, the working group said. A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Pether, in his fifties, was released 'due to his poor health.' Australian media have previously reported that the family suspected Pether had developed lung cancer in prison and that he had undergone surgery for skin cancer. A second Iraqi official confirmed the release of Radwan, adding that he was not allowed to leave the country until a 'final decision' was made regarding his case. Australia's ABC broadcaster quoted the country's foreign minister, Penny Wong, as welcoming the release and saying the Australian government had raised the issue with Iraqi authorities more than 200 times. Simon Harris, foreign minister for Ireland, where Pether's family lives, posted on X: 'This evening, I have been informed of the release on bail of Robert Pether, whose imprisonment in Iraq has been a case of great concern. 'This is very welcome news in what has been a long and distressing saga for Robert's wife, three children and his wider family and friends.' Speaking to Irish national broadcaster RTE, Pether's wife, Desree Pether, said her husband was 'not well at all' and 'really needs to just come home so he can get the proper medical care he needs.' 'He's completely unrecognizable. It's a shock to the system to see how far he has declined,' she said.

How companies should — and should not — deploy AI
How companies should — and should not — deploy AI

Arab News

time7 hours ago

  • Arab News

How companies should — and should not — deploy AI

Even though nearly half of office workers now turn to generative AI in their daily work, fewer than one in four CEOs report that the technology has delivered its promised value at scale. What is going on? The answer may lie in the fact that generative AI was initially presented as a productivity tool, which led to it being strongly associated with cost-cutting and workforce reductions. Spotting the risk, some 42 percent of employees surveyed in 2024 worried that their job might not exist in the next decade. In the absence of training and upskilling to harness the technology's potential, it is not surprising that there would be more resistance than enthusiasm. Like antibodies fighting off a foreign body, there can be an 'immune response' within organizations, with employees and managers alike resisting change and looking for reasons why AI 'won't work' for them. In addition to slowing adoption, such resistance has prevented a fuller exploration of other potential benefits, such as improved decision-making, enhanced creativity, the elimination of routine tasks and higher job satisfaction. As a result, there has been little consideration of how to 'reinvest' the time that AI can save. AI adoption is not about saving minutes. It is about reinventing work for the benefit of employees and the organization. Vinciane Beauchene and Allison Bailey Yet our research finds that employees who use generative AI regularly can already save five hours per working week, allowing them to pursue new tasks, further experiment with the technology, collaborate in new ways with coworkers or simply finish earlier. The challenge for business leaders, then, is to emphasize these potential benefits and provide guidance on where to refocus one's time to maximize value creation. Consider the example of a global healthcare provider that recently deployed generative AI across its 100,000 employees. It created a scalable AI learning program with three objectives: high AI literacy across the organization, so that all employees could make the most of the technology; a broad suite of AI tools for every work scenario; and compliant usage. Owing to this holistic approach, the company soon improved employee satisfaction and productivity at the same time. But AI adoption is not about saving minutes. It is about reinventing work for the benefit of employees and the organization. When a company treats generative AI merely as a timesaving tool, it is more likely to chase piecemeal use cases — 10 minutes saved here, 30 minutes saved there — which will not have a meaningful impact on the overall business. After all, small-scale AI applications that yield diffuse productivity gains are difficult to reinvest or capture on a profit and loss statement. Without a holistic strategy to redesign their core processes around AI, organizations risk optimizing isolated tasks rather than fundamentally improving how work gets done. The result, all too often, is that bottlenecks will simply be relocated to other parts of the process or value chain, limiting overall productivity gains. For example, in software development, an AI that speeds up coding can lead to more arduous debugging or other delays, negating any efficiency gains. Real value comes from integrating AI across the entire development lifecycle. This example also raises a larger issue: Too many organizations pursue scale without first reimagining the structures and workflows needed to harness cumulative gains. The usual result is a missed opportunity, because time savings that are not reinvested strategically tend to dissipate. Rather than adopting a let-a-hundred-flowers-bloom approach, organizations should pursue a few big transformational initiatives focused on reimagining work from end to end. The true promise of generative AI lies in unlocking what we call the 'golden triangle' of value: productivity, quality and engagement/joy. An AI strategy should reimagine workflows to eliminate inefficiencies, augment decision-making and processes to encourage innovation and creativity, and enhance work, not mechanize it. Employees are more likely to embrace AI enthusiastically when it eliminates drudgery, feeds creativity and accelerates learning. Proper attention to upskilling will ensure that the technology augments human potential, boosting workplace engagement and job satisfaction. By emphasizing engagement and the quality of experience alongside productivity, organizations can move beyond a cost-driven perspective to one that creates more value for the business, its employees and its customers. AI can be much more than an automation mechanism, provided that firms adopt a comprehensive strategy for deploying it. Organizations should pursue a few big transformational initiatives focused on reimagining work from end to end. Vinciane Beauchene and Allison Bailey Business leaders should keep five imperatives in mind. The first is to focus on the biggest pools of value with the best-defined business cases for integrating AI. The second is to reimagine work, rather than simply optimizing it. AI should be used to transform entire workflows, not just automate a few steps. Third, managers must invest in upskilling, so that everyone understands the technology and its potential. Fourth, the golden triangle, with its balance between productivity, quality and employee engagement/joy, should be businesses' golden rule. Lastly, organizations should measure value beyond cost savings. Businesses that deploy generative AI most effectively will track its effects on workforce empowerment, agility and new revenue streams, not just operational costs. By heeding these imperatives, companies can use AI as a force for reinvention, rather than just a productivity tool. In the process, they will set the pace for the next era of business.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store