The financial results of the first nine months of 2018 for 131 Saudi companies, which are listed in the local stock market, were announced on Friday.
The results revealed a profit of SAR82.8 billion ($22 billion), marking a growth of more than 11 percent compared to the same period last year, underlining the strength of the Saudi economy.
More Saudi companies are expected to announce their financial results on Sunday while firms listed on the Saudi stock exchange are expected to achieve profits of more than SAR100 billion ($26.6 billion) in 2018.
In this context, the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) ended the week on a negative note, as the Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) lost 1.7 percent, and closed at the level of 7,743.39 points, 136 points less.
This came in the wake of natural profit gains after the index rose for three consecutive weeks.
Total traded values fell 19.36 percent to SAR13.85 billion while traded volumes declined by 21.57 percent to 638.35 million shares.
These developments come as Saudi revenues grew during the third quarter of this year by 57 percent compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the total revenues from the beginning of the year to the end of the third quarter amounted to SAR663.1 billion ($176.8 billion), recording a growth of 47 percent compared to the same period last year (the first nine months of 2017).
The Saudi Ministry of Finance published Wednesday on its website the quarterly budget performance report for the third quarter of fiscal year 2018, which emphasizes the government's commitment to transparency and financial disclosure.
Indicators of this report revealed a decrease in the deficit compared to the same period of the previous year, supported by a significant positive growth in oil and non-oil revenues, which emphasizes the effectiveness of economic reforms and fiscal measures aimed at sustaining public finances.
In addition to that, Moody's Investor Service affirmed the Kingdom's “A1” rating with a stable outlook and raised its GDP growth forecasts for the period (2018-2019) to 2.5 percent and 2.7 percent respectively, instead of its previous expectations of 1.3 percent and 1.5 percent for the same period reported in April this year.
These revised numbers from Moody’s even exceed the forecasts of the government announced in the preliminary statement of the 2019 budget announcement on September 30, 2018.
Moody's expects higher oil production to boost the economy and developments in the non-oil sector to contribute to stronger GDP growth.
In its recent review, Moody’s noted that plans to diversify the Kingdom's economy away from oil are likely to contribute to the country's medium and long-term growth.
