Biggest Saudi listing since Aramco surges on trading debut

Saudi Arabia’s largest pharmacy retail chain soared on its trading debut after raising $1.36bn in the kingdom’s biggest share sale since Aramco.

Nahdi Medical Co. rose as much as 21 per cent to SAR158 ($42.12) at 10.05am in Riyadh. The company had sold shares at SAR131, the top end of its planned price range.

While the Russia-Ukraine conflict has roiled equity markets around the world, the main bourses in the energy-rich Gulf have proved resilient – in large part because of the jump in oil prices to more than $100 a barrel.

Tuesday’s surge underscores how investors continue to clamour for IPOs in Saudi Arabia. Nahdi, one of many family-owned businesses listing on the kingdom’s exchange, had demand for all shares on offer hours after books opened, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.

Nahdi’s IPO is the largest listing in the kingdom since Saudi Aramco raised almost $30bn in 2019. ACWA Power International raised $1.2bn last year in what was then the kingdom’s biggest deal since Aramco.

This is already the busiest first quarter on record for Saudi Arabian listings and more share sales are likely to follow. The kingdom’s Tadawul All Share Index is up 14 per cent this year in dollar terms, making it the seventh best performing gauge in the world.