Shares in Saudi Arabia’s Umm Al Qura for Development and Construction surged 30 percent on Monday, the maximum allowed on a first day of trading.
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) also approved another three companies for initial public offerings.
Within minutes of the opening of the Saudi Exchange, after Umm Al Qura raised SAR1.96 billion in a sale to the public earlier this month, the shares jumped SAR4.5 ($1.2) above the SAR15 IPO price.
The IPO is the biggest so far this year in Saudi Arabia, and one of three where, combined, the companies have raised more than $1 billion.
Shares in the other two, poultry producer Entaj and online brokerage Derayah Financial, also went “limit up” on the first day of trading post-IPO.
The CMA’s approval for another three companies to sell shares to the public brings the total so far this year to 11, and to 24 in the pipeline of companies that have the relevant six-month approval for completing an IPO.
Of the 11, only three have approval to list on the Saudi Exchange’s main market, the Tadawul, while the other are for the parallel market, Nomu.
Wajdlife Trading Company, which imports and maintains medical equipment, received permission from the CMA to float 2.5 million shares, representing 20 percent of the company.
Afaq Al Arabya, a logistics company based in Riyadh, was given permission to float 900,000 shares, representing 10 percent.
Rawabi Marketing International, a chemicals trading company, was approved to float 1 million shares, representing 6.5 percent of the company.
The approvals, which are for listing on the Nomu, are valid for six months from the date of issue. No further details about the IPOs were announced.
The regulator said earlier this year that it was reviewing applications from 55 companies to carry out IPOs this year.
Last year, 43 companies launched IPOs in Saudi Arabia – the largest Arab economy – raising a combined SAR14.4 billion. Of these, 15 listed on the main market and the remainder on Nomu.
Before listing, analysts told AGBI last week that they had expected shares in Umm Al Qura to rise on the first day of trading, largely because of investors looking for exposure to the real estate market in Mecca and Medina, home to Islam’s holiest sites.
Coinciding with its first day of trading, Umm Al Qura released its annual financial results for 2024, reporting a 60 percent increase in profit to SAR499 million.
The company is developing Masar, a $27 billion project in Mecca stretching more than 3.5km along the city’s western border.
One of the largest redevelopments in the region, it will have 18,000 serviced apartments, 23,000 hotel keys and 9,000 residential units.
Saudi Arabia is aiming to increase the number of pilgrims performing Hajj and Umrah to 30 million by 2030, up from 18.5 million in 2024.
A ruling by the CMA in January allowed foreign investors to buy shares in companies with property in the holy cities.
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