RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority has approved another three initial public offerings in the midst of a listing wave on the Saudi bourses.

The market regulator has approved an application from Power and Water Utility Co. for Jubail and Yanbu to register and sell 73.09 million shares, or 29.24 percent of equity, on the Saudi Exchange, according to a CMA statement.

Saudi Top for Trading Co. has obtained the regulator’s approval to float 880,000 shares on the parallel market, Nomu.

The CMA has also approved Molan Steel Co.’s application to register and offer 532,400 shares on Nomu.

Saudi initial public offerings are on course for a record year, with the number of listings already exceeding last year, the chairman of the CMA told Arab News at a fintech event in Riyadh on July 26.

“Undoubtedly, the number of IPOs we have for listing and offering is the largest that it has been,” Mohammed Elkuwaiz said, adding: “We already exceeded the number of IPOs we had last year, and we think the number will likely get even bigger.”

The Saudi Stock Exchange has recorded 17 initial share sales in the first half of the year, generating proceeds amounting to $5.07 billion.

The main TASI index accounted for eight listings generating $4.4 billion, and the parallel Nomu market had nine listings worth $649 million.

Among the major initial share sales were Elm Co., Nahdi Medical Co. and Al-Dawaa Medical Services Co., which sold out in record time.

This number is up from 15 offerings during the whole of 2021, which raised almost $5 billion.

Tadawul dominated the Gulf Cooperation Council in IPOs last year, with utility provider ACWA Power marking the region’s largest share sale after its float generated as much as $1.21 billion.

As of Tuesday Sept. 27, TASI, the main market, has listed 10 IPOs, while Nomu, the parallel market, has listed 11 IPOs.

The Saudi stock exchange Tadawul Group announced in March that it has received more than 70 listing applications for both the main index TASI, as well as the parallel index Nomu.