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Samba and Sabic lead decline on Saudi bourse
Saudi Arabian shares declined for the second-straight day, led by the Samba Financial Group and Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic), the world's largest chemical maker.
- Bloomberg
- Published: 22:00 August 9, 2008
Riyadh: Saudi Arabian shares declined for the second-straight day, led by the Samba Financial Group and Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic), the world's largest chemical maker.
The Tadawul All Share Index lost 3.3 per cent to 8,173.97 in Riyadh, the lowest since October last year. The index has dropped 26 per cent this year.
Samba Financial, the second-largest bank by market value, dropped to its lowest level since December 2004, losing 8.8 per cent to 62 riyals and bringing the slide this year to 48 per cent. Sabic declined 3.3 per cent to 119.25 riyals, the lowest since October.
US effect
"There are concerns about Samba's exposure to US mortgage-related security losses, directly or indirectly," Murad Ansari, a Riyadh-based analyst with EFG-Hermes Holding.
On July 20, Samba Financial reported a 5.4 per cent decline in second-quarter profit to 1.22 billion riyals ($330 million), because of losses from US-related investments and lower brokerage income.
The Saudi stock market's plan to release the names of all shareholders with holdings of five per cent or more in listed companies from August 16 depressed the Arab world's biggest index. The Saudi bourse announced the plan on July 30.
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