CMA fines 2 listed firms for violation [Arab News, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia]

Apr. 5--JEDDAH -- The Capital Market Authority (CMA) fined Bank AlJazira and Advanced Petrochemical Company (APC) SR50,000 each for violating the principles of registration and listing, the Tadawul website said on Sunday.

The CMA said the bank did not inform the authority about changes in its higher management while the petrochemical company failed to inform it about the decision to stop operation of its propylene factory for special maintenance.

Meanwhile, the extraordinary general assembly of the Saudi Fransi Cooperative Insurance Co. (Allianz SF) on Sunday announced its decision to increase its capital through rights issue (one share for every share held). As a result, the price of its shares changed to SR44.10 from Sunday with a fluctuation limit of 10 percent.

The Saudi stock market ended slightly lower on Sunday after surging to a 17-month closing high on Saturday. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed 4.14 points lower at 6,822.34 on profit-taking. The gaining sectors for the day ranged from 0.01 percent by the Multi-Investment to 0.63 percent by the Cement sector. The losing sectors ranged from 0.08 percent by the Real Estate to 2.74 percent by the Transport sector. The overall market breadth for the day was positive with 59 advancers against 58 decliners giving it an AD ratio of 1.01, the Jeddah-based Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.

The value of traded shares dipped to SR2.88 billion from SR3.3 billion on Saturday.

The insurance companies made hefty gains on Sunday. The top gainer was Allianz SF. Its shares jumped 9.98 percent to close at SR48.50. The other gainers were Sagr Insurance (8.06 percent), Al-Ahlia Insurance Co. (6.92 percent), Allied Cooperative Insurance Group (4.67 percent) and Alahli Takaful Co. (4.06 percent).

Halwani Brothers Co. shares rose slightly to SR34.10 on Sunday after it announced a 68 percent rise in first-quarter net profits.

Halwani made a net profit of SR21 million in the three months to March 31, compared to SR12.5 million in the same period last year, according to a statement on the Tadawul website on Sunday.

Operational profit increased by 57.5 percent to SR24.1 million in the quarter, the firm said.

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