عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

Saudi Companies Enter Countdown to Disclose Financial Results

Saudi Companies Enter Countdown to Disclose Financial Results
TT
TT

Saudi Companies Enter Countdown to Disclose Financial Results

Saudi Companies Enter Countdown to Disclose Financial Results

Saudi firms have started the countdown to announce their financial results for the final quarter of 2019.

Traders of the Saudi stock exchange are anticipating the results of 138 companies whose financial results haven’t been revealed yet. These firms represent 70 percent of the total listed companies.

So far, a total of 61 listed companies announced their results for Q4 2019. The results showed progress in the performance of 39 listed companies during 2019 compared to 2018. This progress is embodied through two types: companies that achieved remarkable growth in financial results for 2019 and companies that managed to reinforce their operating roles.

Amid this anticipation, Tadawul commenced the new month’s trading following sharp setbacks in global markets and oil prices last week. This coincides with the Dow Jones index sliding last Friday from 1,100 points to 357 points.

The performance of the Saudi stock exchange is expected to be more stable and balanced compared to most global financial markets. It managed to maintain a level of 7,500 points, in addition to the fact that the already announced results brought hope to investors.

In this context, the Saudi index closed last week’s trading with a decline of 4.7 percent i.e. 379 points. It closed at 7,628 points compared to last week’s 8,007 points. This was the greatest weekly loss since August.

The value of total trading last week witnessed a remarkable rise of around SAR19.9 billion (USD5.3 billion) compared to around SAR14.17 billion (USD3.77 billion) during the week before. This indicates a rise of 40.4 percent.

Most Viewed

 
 
Business

ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
TT
TT

ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde renewed her call for economic integration across Europe on Friday, arguing that intensifying global trade tensions and a growing technology gap with the United States create fresh urgency for action.
US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs on most if not all imports and said Europe would pay a heavy price for having run a large trade surplus with the US for decades.
"The geopolitical environment has also become less favorable, with growing threats to free trade from all corners of the world," Lagarde said in a speech, without directly referring to Trump.
"The urgency to integrate our capital markets has risen."
While Europe has made some progress, EU members tend to water down most proposals to protect vested national interests to the detriment of the bloc as a whole, Reuters quoted Lagarde as saying.
But this is taking hundreds of billions if not trillions of euros out of the economy as households are holding 11.5 trillion euros in cash and deposits, and much of this is not making its way to the firms that need the funding.
"If EU households were to align their deposit-to-financial assets ratio with that of US households, a stock of up to 8 trillion euros could be redirected into long-term, market-based investments – or a flow of around 350 billion euros annually," Lagarde said.
When the cash actually enters the capital market, it often stays within national borders or leaves for the US in hope of better returns, Lagarde added.
Europe therefore needs to reduce the cost of investing in capital markets and must make the regulatory regime easier for cash to flow to places where it is needed the most.
A solution might be to create an EU-wide regulatory regime on top of the 27 national rules and certain issuers could then opt into this framework.
"To bypass the cumbersome process of regulatory harmonization, we could envisage a 28th regime for issuers of securities," Lagarde said. "They would benefit from a unified corporate and securities law, facilitating cross-border placement, holding and settlement."
Still, that would not solve the problem that few innovative companies set up shop in Europe, partly due to the lack of funding. So Europe must make it easier for investment to flow into venture capital and for banks to fund startups, she said.