Arqaam Capital Assesses Aramco Share at SAR39.2

Arqaam Capital assesses Aramco share at SAR39.2. (Getty Images)
Arqaam Capital assesses Aramco share at SAR39.2. (Getty Images)
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Arqaam Capital Assesses Aramco Share at SAR39.2

Arqaam Capital assesses Aramco share at SAR39.2. (Getty Images)
Arqaam Capital assesses Aramco share at SAR39.2. (Getty Images)

Early assessments of Saudi Aramco shares have begun to emerge with the oil giant’s historic listing and trading in the Saudi financial market last week.

Its shares hit SAR38.7 ($10.32), lifting its market value above $2 trillion and closed at SAR36.8, a rise of 4.5 percent from Wednesday’s close, making it the largest of listed companies in the world.

An evaluation report by UAE-based Arqaam Capital said the target purchase price for Aramco is SAR39.2 riyals ($10.4).

This value was determined according to the discounted cash flows, multiples and deduction of distributions.

Prepared by four researchers, Rita Guindy, Jaap Meijer, Sidharth Saboo and Soha Saniour, the report indicated that the multiples model has reached a fair price of SAR30 (8 dollars).

Meanwhile, they said, the discounted cash flows and dividend discount model ended with a fair price of SAR40 ($10.6) per share.

The report also noted that major factors drive more positive vision for the share price, foremost of which is ensuring dividend distribution and sustainable cash flow, as well as the company’s large resource base and the low-cost structure.

Despite considering the analysis of the size of the geopolitical risks and the focus process associated with the company's oil activity, the report said that the previous factors, along with strong cash flows in the current and future financial statements, all add to the expectations of a more gradual rise in financial distributions in the near future.



Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
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Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday said he will nominate prominent investor Scott Bessent as US Treasury secretary, a key cabinet position with vast influence over economic, regulatory and international affairs.

"I am most pleased to nominate Scott Bessent to serve as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States," Trump said in a statement released on Truth Social. "Scott is widely respected as one of the world's foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists."

Wall Street has been closely watching who Trump will pick, especially given his plans to remake global trade through tariffs and extend and potentially expand the raft of tax cuts enacted during his first term, Reuters reported
The choice came after days of deliberations by Trump as he sorted through a shifting list of candidates. Bessent spent day after day at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida providing economic advice, sources said, a proximity to the president-elect that may have helped him prevail.
Other names that had been floated included Apollo Global Management Chief Executive Marc Rowan and former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh. Investor John Paulson had also been a leading candidate, but dropped out, while Wall Street veteran Howard Lutnick, another contender, was appointed as head of the Commerce Department.
Bessent, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has advocated for tax reform and deregulation, particularly to spur more bank lending and energy production, as noted in a recent opinion piece he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.
The market's surge after Trump's election victory, he wrote, signaled investor expectations of "higher growth, lower volatility and inflation, and a revitalized economy for all Americans."
"Bessent has been on the side of less aggressive tariffs," said Oxford Economics' Ryan Sweet, adding that picking him makes the steep tariffs Trump proposed on the campaign trail less likely.
Bessent follows other financial luminaries who have taken the job, including former Goldman Sachs executives Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson and Steven Mnuchin, Trump's first Treasury chief. Janet Yellen, the current secretary and first woman in the job, previously chaired the Federal Reserve and White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, Bessent's home state, said in a statement: "President Trump's economic agenda is in good hands with Scott Bessent. I look forward to working closely with Scott and President Trump to lower inflation and create the golden age of prosperity for the American people."