Saudi hotel and tourism companies lose US$870mn

David Thompson, January 12th, 2016

Hotel and tourism companies in Saudi Arabia saw US$870 million (SAR3.3 billion) wiped off their value in the first week of 2016.

The hotel and tourism sector in Saudi Arabia incurred losses by the end of the first week of 2016 to an extent that they surpass other sectors at the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) in terms of losses.

Companies in the sector lost US$870 million (SAR3.3 billion), or 15.5%, lowering their market value to $4.76 billion (SAR17.9 billion) compared with $5.65 billion (SAR21.2 billion) in the past weekend.

Despite this, the sector recorded a rise in the rates of performance compared to the previous week.

The market as a whole, fell by 9% in terms of traded liquidity, which amounted to $6.4 billion (SAR24.1 billion); declined by 15% or 1.075bn shares in terms of traded quantity.

Cash in circulation from the sector amounted to $274 million (SAR1.03 billion) compared with $239 million (SAR897 million) for the previous week.