RIYADH — Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Co., a leading diversified capital markets group in the MENA region, announced its financial results for Q1 2022, highlighting its continued commitment to strengthening its global position through several new market updates, launches, and investments.

The group achieved a net profit after zakat of SR140.6 million in Q1 2022, a 21.7% YoY decrease from SR179.6 million in Q1 2021, and a 27.3% increased from SR110.5 million in Q4 2021, as following:

Operating Revenue decreased 11.6% YoY reaching SR293.9 million in Q1 2022 compared to SR332.4 million in Q1 2021, predominantly due to a decrease in trading and post trade services driven by normalization of trading volumes which contracted 22.1%.

Compared to SR257.5 million in in the previous quarter, the operating revenue increased 14.1%, predominantly due to an increase in trading and post trade services driven by a stronger trading environment.

Operating Expenditures increased 1.8% YoY reaching SR140.2 million in Q1 2022 compared to SR137.7 million in Q1 2021, due to an increase in salaries and related benefits, the largest cost item driven by an increase in staff count.

Compared to SR146.7 million in the previous quarter, the operating expenditures decreased 4.4%, due to a decrease in the salaries and related benefits, the largest cost item.

• EBITDA decreased 20.4% YoY reaching SR166.4 million in Q1 2022 compared to SR209.0 million in Q1 2021, due to the decrease in the group’s operating revenue against moderate growth in the Group’s operating expenditures.

Compared to SR124.1 million in the previous quarter, EBITDA increased 34.1%, due to the increase in the group’s operating revenue and moderate decrease in operating expenditures.

• Investment Income decreased 13.0% YoY reaching SR9.9 million in Q1 2022 compared to SR11.4 million in Q1 2021, which was attributed to a 9.0% decrease in the investment portfolio size.

• Free Cash Flow decreased 26.5% YoY reaching SR179.7 million in Q1 2022, compared to SR244.4 million in Q1 2021, mainly as a result of the lower EBITDA. Compared to SR130.9 million in the previous quarter, the Free Cash Flow increased 37.3%, as a result of the increase in EBITDA.

Eng. Khalid Al-Hussan, group chief executive officer at Saudi Tadawul Group commented: “Following our transformational IPO and listing last year, we have been focused on delivering on our strategy and meeting our key strategic objectives to promote excellent value for investors and foster the development of the Saudi capital market in alignment with the pillars of Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP) and the ambitious Kingdom’s Vision 2030.”

He added: “During the first quarter, we continued to diversify the group’s services and enhance the operational efficiency, and we have recently announced the launch of various new market infrastructure enhancements — the largest in the history of the Saudi capital market — that will not only expand our offerings in line with expectations of local and international investors, but further consolidate our position as one of the largest and most sophisticated exchanges in the world.”

Eng. Khalid said: “We are in a strong financial position driven by our advanced and differentiated business model, in addition to our ambitious growth plans and disciplined capital allocation strategy.

“We are committed to pursuing a strategy of growth and diversification through the development and implementation of new asset classes, products and services, while strengthening inter-connectivity with other financial markets in the region and around the world to facilitate capital formation. This should in turn support the group’s commitment to ensuring maximum returns for shareholders as we strengthen our role as a global capital markets leader and a financial markets powerhouse.”

Saudi Tadawul Group continued to strengthen its position as a global capital markets powerhouse through several new market updates, launches, and events. This is in line with its strategy to accelerate growth, strengthen operational and financial performance, diversify world-class offerings across solutions and technologies, and broaden local, regional, and international client base.

• In March, the group announced its intention to launch on April 3 several new market enhancements across its three subsidiaries to develop post trade infrastructure. The enhancements are the largest in the history of the Kingdom’s capital market and aim to provide investors with increased investment opportunities and access to a diverse range of financial instruments and new products.

These include:

• Saudi Exchange: The introduction of a more efficient handling of order flow by market participants, such as an enhanced mechanism for short selling activities.

• Muqassa: The extension of clearing services to cover all tradable securities, to adopt a more comprehensive risk framework and facilitate the introduction of new products and services for clearing members.

• Edaa: The introduction of a new central securities depository system and post-trade services, in alignment with international standards, to enhance the experience for Capital Market Institutions, custodians, settlement agents and investors.

• Other significant updates include the approval of the new fees structure, effective April 3, 2022, for the services provided by the Saudi Exchange, Edaa, and Muqassa relating to the shares buy and sell commissions, the units of Real Estate Investment Traded Funds (REITs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Closed-end Funds (CEFs), and Tradable Rights.

• WAMID signed Memorandums of Understandings (MoUs) and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with multiple clients and vendors to further enhance market knowledge and provide value-adding products and services.

• In March, the group also hosted the inaugural Saudi Capital Market Forum 2022, held under the patronage of Mohammed El-Kuwaiz, chairman of the Capital Market Authority. The event brought together over 1,500 attendees including issuers, investors, private companies, government entities, and financial institutions to discuss the advancement of the Saudi capital market. — SG