8 things to consider as Tadawul starts trading

Here are a few things you need to know as Saudi stocks start trading on Wednesday.

1) National Agriculture Development Co. (NADEC) filed a request on April 17 to the Saudi General Authority for Competition (GAC) to approve the economic concentration arising from the company’s acquisition of Al Safi Danone.

2) Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries & Medical Appliances Corp. (SPIMACO) will launch production at its Qassim cancer medicine plant by 2020, according to chief executive officer Fahad Al Khalaf.

3) Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with US industrial company General Electric (GE) to accelerate the digital transformation of the Kingdom’s power sector.

4) Saudi Ground Services Co.’s board of directors has recommended a 6.5 percent cash dividend for Q4 2017, at SAR 0.65 per share, amounting to SAR 122.2 million.

5) Saudi Industrial Export Co. (SIECO) has submitted a request to the Capital Market Authority to increase capital through a SAR 54 million rights issue, the company said in a statement.

6) Saudi Arabia's finance ministry has provided Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) with loans of around SAR 11 billion ($2.9 billion) to help turnaround the construction giant, Reuters reported.

7) Hilton plans to increase its Saudi properties from 10 to over 40 in the next five years, as the Kingdom shores up tourism and entertainment spending through major developments like NEOM and the Red Sea project, a senior executive told Argaam.

8) Crude oil prices climbed on Wednesday, with Brent crude last up 0.5 percent at $71.96/bbl while WTI crude rose 0.5 percent to $66.88/bbl.

Write to Nadeshda Zareen at nadeshda.zareen@argaamplus.com