Another blockbuster Saudi IPO? The kingdom’s largest retail pharmacy chain, Al Nahdi Medical, hopes to raise USD 1.3 bn in its Tadawul debut — which would make it the KSA’s largest listing since Aramco’s bumper USD 30 bn IPO in 2019, Bloomberg reports, citing unnamed sources. The 30% stake sale, which could see the company valued at USD 4.3 bn, is planned to go ahead within months. Al Nahdi has appointed HSBC Holdings and Saudi National Bank’s investing arm to manage the sale.

Dubai looks to soften the blow of the UAE’s new corporate tax: The emirate is considering cutting fees for businesses in a bid to balance out the costs of the newly introduced corporate tax, Bloomberg reports. The Dubai bourse fell the most in the region yesterday, after the UAE on Monday announced that businesses would start paying tax for the first time ever starting next year. The Abu Dhabi exchange saw intraday losses but went into the green by close, Bloomberg notes.

EARNINGS WATCH- Google parent company Alphabet smashed another quarterly sales record in the fourth quarter as sales jumped 32% to hit USD 75.3 bn, Reuters reports. The results lend weight to some analysts’ assertion that Big Tech will prove immune to the current jolts in the market. Meta is next to announce its Q4 financials later today, while Amazon is up on Thursday.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 1.0% yesterday on turnover of EGP 782 mn (28.4% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is down 2.9% YTD.

In the green: Orascom Development Egypt (+5.8%), Qalaa Holdings (+5.2%) and Palm Hills Development (+3.6%).

In the red: CIRA (-2.9%), TMG Holding (-2.0%) and Egypt Kuwait Holding-EGP (-1.2%).