Saudi Arabia’s capital market booms as Vision 2030 fuels IPO surge and foreign investment: CEO

RIYADH: UAE’s ADNOC Drilling is projecting significant growth, expecting over $1 billion in investments for 2025. The company also has plans to expand its operations into Oman and Kuwait, an official revealed.

In an interview with Arab News at the Capital Markets Forum, Youssef Salem, the company’s chief financial officer, discussed the expansion strategy, emphasizing the confidence ADNOC Drilling has in the long-term, robust plans of operating companies in these countries.

“For example, Kuwait Oil Co. is going to 4 million barrels of production capacity of oil per day, also launching for the first time their offshore operations. Similarly with Oman, a lot of tenders for new rigs to upgrade their drilling field,” he explained.

Salem shared that the firm’s expansion into these Gulf nations, along with its existing operations in Jordan, is based on establishing strong relationships with local operators. ADNOC Drilling has already pre-qualified with these entities and is focusing on organic growth through partnerships and joint ventures with established regional companies.

Regarding the financial impact of the investments, Salem noted that Kuwait is currently a large market with plans to expand to 200 rigs, while Oman is also growing its market to 100 rigs. “So, these two markets combined are almost three times the size of the UAE rig market, and hence, we see it as a very substantial opportunity,” he added.

Salem pointed out the ongoing shift in ADNOC Drilling’s revenue sources. “Today, if you look in general, the vast majority of our revenues come from the UAE. That is something that is evolving. For example, on the Enersol side, which is our global investment, we expect by next year to have around 7 percent of our net income to come from these global operations.”

The CFO elaborated on the company’s anticipated growth in 2025, with expectations of the onshore segment potentially crossing $2 billion, the offshore segment reaching over $1.4 billion, and oil field services surpassing $1.2 billion—an approximate 50 percent year-on-year growth.

“So, in 2025, we are expecting the onshore to potentially cross $2 billion, the offshore to cross $1.4 billion, and the oil field services to cross $1.2 billion, another almost 50 percent year-on-year growth,” Salem said.

He also revealed that the company plans to invest more than $1 billion in 2025.

“Out of that, $350 million to $550 million will be in additional rigs and oil field service equipment inside the UAE on our roadmap to reach 151 rigs by 2028,” he said.

Additionally, ADNOC Drilling is allocating $700 million to Enersol, its joint venture with Alpha Dubai, which focuses on investing in global energy technology companies, especially those involved in artificial intelligence.

Salem also highlighted the company’s recent acquisitions, noting that ADNOC Drilling completed four acquisitions worth $800 million in the previous year and plans further acquisitions totaling $700 million in 2025.

Discussing the company’s 2024 results, which reached a record revenue of $4 billion, Salem stated: “The onshore segment generated $1.9 billion of revenues from 95 land rigs, which is the largest drilling feed on the onshore side in the Middle East and North Africa. Similarly, the offshore segment generated $1.3 billion of revenue from 47 offshore rigs. Again, the largest, and then the oil field services, which is our fastest-growing segment, growing more than 100 percent year on year.” He also added that the oil field services segment generated $100 million in the fourth quarter and expects further growth in each segment in the upcoming year.

Regarding the forum’s agenda, Salem mentioned: “Tomorrow and the day after, we have two full days of investor meetings. Saudi investors obviously are a very key part of our shareholder register, but also, you have a lot of global investors who are flying into the forum to attend.”

He emphasized that the forum presents a valuable opportunity to engage with global investors.

Salem also spoke about ADNOC Drilling’s stock, saying it is the most covered in the UAE, with 18 analysts tracking it, and holds the highest number of buy recommendations in the Middle East, with 15 advisers endorsing it.

He acknowledged the increasing significance of Saudi Arabia’s financial sector, highlighting that the Kingdom hosts leading banks and noted that Tadawul is recognized for its liquidity and market activity, supported by a robust ecosystem of market makers, brokers, analysts, and investors.

“Similarly, on the Abu Dhabi exchange side in the UAE, one of the fastest growing exchanges across the trillion dollars of market capitalization between the Abu Dhabi exchange and the Dubai financial market,” Salem said, describing the event as the “biggest capital market in the world,” a collaborative gathering where regional exchanges unite.

On ADNOC Drilling’s operations in Saudi Arabia, Salem expressed the company’s deep commitment to its operations in the Kingdom. He explained that ADNOC Drilling operates multiple subsidiaries in close collaboration with Saudi Aramco, such as EV, a subsidiary from Enersol offering smart cameras for 3D visualization beneath wells. He also mentioned NTS, a manufacturing business with a significant facility in Dammam, employing over 100 people to manufacture drilling and service equipment for companies like Schlumberger, Halliburton, and Baker Hughes.

“For us, Saudi Arabia continues to be very strategic for our actual underlying operation, and we continue to find ways to build even deeper relationships,” Salem affirmed.

Regarding a potential dual listing on the Saudi Exchange, Salem shared that the company’s current focus is primarily on the Abu Dhabi Exchange, where they already enjoy significant liquidity, with over $20 million traded daily.

“We have the benefit of having a very liquid stock trading more than $20 million a day. Saudi investors are able to invest on the Abu Dhabi Exchange. We have a lot of the major Saudi sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, asset managers able to invest from here,” he said.

He added: “We do not see any technical limitation to their ability to invest, and we think we can continue to grow the Saudi investor base even more in ADNOC Drilling on the Abu Dhabi exchange.”

RIYADH: Saudi clearinghouse Muqassa has announced a partnership with Fidelity Information Services Global to enhance trade automation for market participants. 

In an interview with Arab News during the Capital Markets Forum in Riyadh, Wael Al-Hazzani, Muqassa’s CEO, stated that the collaboration marks a significant step in expanding the firm’s services and improving operational efficiency within the Kingdom’s financial markets. 

“Today we announced our collaboration with FIS, one of the biggest technology providers, to facilitate automation for market participants,” said Al-Hazzani, adding: “This will be part of our solution, hopefully in the second half of this year.” 

The CEO emphasized that while FIS is the first provider, Muqassa intends to partner with additional technology firms. 

“FIS is a big player in this field, and international market participants use it heavily. We are complementing our offering to reach clients familiar with FIS, but this won’t be the last partnership — we will announce others soon,” he said.

 Muqassa, which plays a central role in clearing exchange-traded products and providing risk management, is also expanding its services to the over-the-counter market. 

“Currently, we clear repo transactions traded OTC (over-the-counter), and next in the pipeline are OTC interest rate derivatives,” Al-Hazzani said, adding: “We aim to launch this service in 2025, pending regulatory alignment and technology testing.” 

In addition to enhancing clearing services, Muqassa is advancing its role in the Kingdom’s fixed-income market. The company has increased the number of government sukuk eligible as collateral for clearing members. 

“Previously, only cash was accepted as collateral. Now, all government sukuk can be included in the collateral basket,” Al-Hazzani said.

“This provides relief to clearing members, allowing them to use part of their balance sheet sitting in sukuk instead of cash,” he continued.

Currently, up to 20 percent of a clearing member’s collateral pool can consist of government sukuk, but Muqassa plans to expand this as market liquidity improves. “As the market matures, we are interested in increasing the weight of acceptable sukuk for collateral,” Al-Hazzan added. 

Looking ahead, Muqassa is prepared to accept a broader range of securities as collateral, provided they meet liquidity requirements. 

“By rules and by technology, we are ready to accept any type of security as collateral,” Al-Hazzani said, going on to say: “The key prerequisite is liquidity— there must always be a buyer in the market in case liquidation is needed. As we grow, we will gradually expand the eligible basket of collateral to include equities, bonds, and stocks.” 

While Muqassa’s immediate focus remains on the Saudi market, it has long-term plans to expand regionally. 

“We are still a young company with many initiatives ahead, but our next step will be to explore markets in the GCC and beyond,” Al-Hazzani said.

Muqassa was established as part of Saudi Arabia’s Financial Sector Development Program to enhance market efficiency and attract global investors.

By centralizing counterparty risk management and aligning with global clearing standards, Muqassa aims to support the continued evolution of the Saudi financial market.