Saudi Real Estate Profits Jump 153% at End of 3rd Quarter

The profits of real estate sector companies in Saudi Arabia jumped by 153 percent during the first nine months of 2023. (SPA)
The profits of real estate sector companies in Saudi Arabia jumped by 153 percent during the first nine months of 2023. (SPA)
TT

Saudi Real Estate Profits Jump 153% at End of 3rd Quarter

The profits of real estate sector companies in Saudi Arabia jumped by 153 percent during the first nine months of 2023. (SPA)
The profits of real estate sector companies in Saudi Arabia jumped by 153 percent during the first nine months of 2023. (SPA)

The profits of real estate sector companies in Saudi Arabia jumped by 153 percent during the first nine months of 2023, compared to the same period last year, due to the growth of real estate and the major development projects implemented by the Saudi government and the private sector.

Real estate sector companies achieved an increase in their profitability during the third quarter of 2023, amounting to SAR 1.35 billion ($367.5 million) over the same period last year, after achieving consolidated profits amounting to SAR 2.23 billion ($602.1 million), compared to profits amounting to SAR 883.16 million ($238.4 million) in the same period of 2022.

The combined net profits of real estate companies listed on the Saudi Tadawul main market increased by 84.39 percent during the third quarter of 2023 on an annual basis, while 13 companies listed in the sector achieved combined profits amounting to SAR 971.04 million, compared to profits of SAR 526.64 million in the third quarter of 2022.

Real estate sector companies continued to record profitability on a quarterly basis. Their profits increased by 44.58 percent during the third quarter of 2023 compared to the second quarter of the same year, reaching SAR 671.61 million.

In sales volume and revenues, real estate sector companies recorded an increase by 13.99 percent, reaching SAR 3.29 billion, compared to SAR 2.89 billion in the same quarter of last year. Revenues in the first nine months of 2023 also increased by 9.99 percent. The companies achieved sales and revenues worth more than SAR 9.94 billion in the first nine months of 2023, compared to SAR 9.04 billion in the same period last year.



China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
TT

China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to citizens of nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy.
Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been pushing people-to-people exchange between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries, The Associated Press reported.
China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then expanded visa-free entry to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on Dec. 1 of last year.
The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, notably Thailand, which wants to bring back Chinese tourists.
For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.