HELSINKI: Rovio, the maker of hit mobile game “Angry Birds,” will look to buy up other players in the gaming industry following its listing on Friday, its main owner Kaj Hed said.
The Finnish company’s shares got off to a flying start on their stock market debut, trading up as much as 7 percent from their initial public offering price (IPO) of €11.50.
Hed, who cut his stake from 69 percent to 37 percent in the IPO, said Rovio now had more muscle to do deals in a gaming sector he believes is ripe for consolidation.
“We have a clear will to be a consolidator, and we are in a very good position to do that,” he told Reuters at Rovio’s headquarters by the Baltic Sea.
“Many good (gaming industry) players face the question of whether they should go public, or whether they should consolidate. Going public is expensive and requires hard work, so finding a partner could be easier.”
Analysts have long urged Rovio to do more to reduce its reliance on the “Angry Birds” franchise.
Hed, the uncle of Rovio’s co-founder Niklas Hed, said he remained strongly committed to the company.
“The reason that I sold shares was to give the company the liquidity, because that is very important. My intention is to remain as a long-term investor in the company.”
Rovio saw rapid growth after the 2009 launch of the original “Angry Birds” game, but it plunged to an operating loss and cut a third of its staff in 2015 due to a pick up in competition and a shift among consumers to freely available games.
But the 2016 release of 3D Hollywood movie “Angry Birds”, together with new games, have revived the brand and helped sales recover.
In the first half of this year, Rovio’s sales almost doubled from a year earlier to €153 million, while core profit increased to €42 million from €11 million.
Rovio’s market valuation of around €950 million, looks high based on Rovio’s historical profit, said Atte Riikola, an analyst at research firm Inderes.
“There seems to be initial demand for (the stock). But given that the IPO was multiple times oversubscribed, the share price reaction is not too dramatic,” he added.
“Profit growth is priced in, so they need to keep up the good performance which they had in the first half of the year.”
At 1135 GMT, Rovio shares were trading at €11.77, off a high of €12.34.
‘Angry Birds’ maker looks to swoop on rivals after high-flying IPO
‘Angry Birds’ maker looks to swoop on rivals after high-flying IPO
Riyadh Air willing to buy Boeing planes from canceled Chinese orders, says CEO
DUBAI: Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas said on Monday the Saudi startup carrier would be ready to buy Boeing aircraft destined for Chinese airlines if they are not delivered due to the escalating trade war between the US and China.
Boeing is looking to resell potentially dozens of planes locked out of China by tariffs after repatriating a third jet to the US in a delivery standoff that drew new criticism of Beijing from US President Donald Trump.
“What we’ve done... is made it quite clear to Boeing, should that ever happen, and the keyword there is should, we’ll happily take them all,” Douglas said in an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market conference.
Boeing took the rare step of publicly flagging the potential aircraft sale during an analyst call last week, saying that there would be no shortage of buyers in a tight jet market.
Riyadh Air, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has been ordering planes from both Boeing and Airbus ahead of its launch, including 60 narrow-body A321-family jets from Airbus in October and up to 72 Boeing 787 Dreamliners ordered in March 2023.
The airline does not expect delivery delays from either planemaker to be resolved any time soon.
Douglas said Riyadh Air had not seen any impact on demand for travel to and from the Kingdom’s capital from global macroeconomic uncertainty, adding that the company plans to announce an order for wide-body jets this summer.
The airline, which is aiming to launch in the fourth quarter, has hired 500 employees and intends to increase its workforce to 1,000 over the next nine to 12 months, Douglas said. Thereafter, hiring of pilots and cabin crew will steadily continue as aircraft are delivered.
Saudi Arabia is seeking to acquire a slice of the global travel industry, including business travel, as the Kingdom pours billions of dollars into developing giga-projects to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons.
This includes the Dubai to Riyadh route, which is often used by bankers, lawyers, consultants and influencers. Douglas said the less than 2-hour flight represents one of the world’s most profitable routes in the world for an airline, from a revenue per kilometer standpoint.
The restart of flights from the UAE into Syria, and flying through the Syrian airspace is “probably a signal that things are at the margin moving in the right direction,” he added.
Jordan reports 20 new patents in Q1, building on 2024’s 111 filings
RIYADH: Jordan registered 20 patents and nearly 1,000 trademarks in the first quarter of the year, building on 2024’s totals of 111 and 5,687, respectively, according to official data.
Of the patents logged between January and March, one was a local innovation, signaling continued growth in domestic research and development, Jordan News Agency reported.
The data also revealed 999 new trademarks were registered, while 1,608 existing trademarks were renewed during the same period. The previous year saw the renewal of 6,245 trademarks, Petra added.
In addition to new registrations, the Industrial Property Protection Directorate at the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Supply renewed 138 patents, issued five industrial property licenses, processed 310 requests for name and address changes, and approved the transfer of ownership for 499 industrial properties.
In the most recent rankings from the World Intellectual Property Organization, covering 2023, Jordan was placed 58th globally for patent applications, with residents filing 21 patents, a 16 percent decrease from the previous year.
Pharmaceuticals dominated technical fields, accounting for 37.8 percent of patents, followed by medical technology.
Trademark filings showed stronger momentum, reaching 5,640 in 2023, with residents driving nearly 70 percent of registrations.
The US, Saudi Arabia, and China were top foreign destinations for Jordanian IP filings, underscoring global commercial ties.
Challenges persist, including low resident applications per gross domestic product and a modest share of women inventors. Yet, universities contributed 47.3 percent of Patent Cooperation Treaty applications, pointing to academia’s pivotal role in research and development.
The latest data from WIPO showed that Saudi Arabia recorded 6,496 patent applications in 2023 — a 31 percent annual increase — ranking 27th globally.
Residents in the Kingdom drove nearly half of these filings, with civil engineering accounting for 21.9 percent and chemicals for 12.3 percent.
Saudi Arabia also registered 37,068 trademark filings, reflecting robust commercial activity, although women inventors accounted for just 7.8 percent of patents.
The UAE demonstrated dynamic growth, particularly in trademarks, with 30,472 filings, and patents, with 992 applications.
Qatar’s IP activity remained modest but specialized, with 180 patent applications and 3,155 trademark filings in 2023.
Emaar EC finalizes $904m debt restructuring deal with Saudi banks
RIYADH: Saudi developer Emaar, The Economic City has signed final agreements with four local banks to reschedule SR3.39 billion ($904 million) in existing debt and secure a new credit facility.
In a bourse filing, the company — the developer of King Abdullah Economic City — announced that it had secured the deals on April 27 with Alinma Bank, Saudi Awwal Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi, and Saudi National Bank. This follows a non-binding term sheet signed in September.
The agreement consolidates existing loans, extends repayment deadlines, and provides a new SR287.2 million credit facility. The rescheduled debt, previously due between 2021 and 2029, will now mature on Dec. 31, 2033, with repayments starting in 2029.
According to a statement, the restructured debt is split into two tranches, with the second potentially extending its maturity to 2036, while the new short-term facility must be repaid by mid-2026, subject to an optional one-year extension.
In its official statement on Tadawul, Emaar, The Economic City said: “This rescheduling comes as part of the company’s announced capital optimization plan, designed to stabilize the company’s financial and operational positions and optimize its capital structure to enhance its ability to move forward with its growth plans.”
To secure the deal, the company pledged real estate mortgages covering 150 percent of the rescheduled debt and 175 percent of the new facility, along with account security and promissory notes.
The restructuring is expected to enhance liquidity and reduce financing costs, aligning with Emaar, The Economic City’s long-term strategy. Saudi National Bank is classified as a related party due to its ties with the Public Investment Fund, a major shareholder in the company.
The developer has been undergoing financial restructuring to stabilize its operations amid widening losses. In the first nine months of 2024, the company reported a net loss of SR1.15 billion, driven by a 74 percent decline in revenue.
In March, the firm strengthened its financial position through a SR1 billion restructured loan agreement with PIF, a key component of its capital optimization strategy that provided extended repayment terms and enhanced liquidity.
Saudi Arabia’s real estate brokerage contracts surge 97% YoY in Q1
RIYADH: More than 96,000 real estate brokerage contracts were documented in Saudi Arabia in the first quarter of 2025 — a 97 percent annual rise, according to new figures.
Released by the Kingdom’s Real Estate General Authority, the data indicated that this worked out at a rate of 44 per hour and 1,066 per day.
This brings the total number of contracts documented since the launch of the real estate brokerage system in 2023 to more than 1.4 million.
The statement highlighted that the almost double growth rate reflects “customer awareness and commitment to implementing real estate laws and regulations that regulate contractual relationships, preserve rights, and create a reliable and organized real estate environment.”
The recorded numbers correlate with the authority’s aim to enhance the real estate investment ecosystem by streamlining procedures, creating more opportunities for investors, and fostering a competitive sector through the provision of accurate, transparent data via the Saudi Real Estate Indicators.
They also align with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goal of increasing homeownership to 70 percent by 2030.
The figures further showed that during the first quarter of 2025 REGA issued over 7,875 licenses across various sectors, including brokerage and marketing, consulting and analysis, property and facility management, as well as auctions.
Over 105,000 licenses were granted for real estate advertising, along with the approval of 10 new electronic real estate platforms, raising the total number of licensed platforms to 71 since the real estate brokerage system was introduced.
“This contributes to achieving the efficiency and quality of real estate transactions within a regulated environment that ensures the preservation of rights and enhances the reliability of the sector,” the authority’s statement said.
During the first quarter of 2025, REGA also processed 1,745 real estate reports and conducted over 23,746 electronic scanning operations, utilizing digital monitoring tools to review online channels and real estate platforms.
Real estate brokerage is defined as facilitating real estate transactions between parties in exchange for a commission, including through electronic means such as websites, social media platforms, and other digital tools.
Established in 2017, REGA works on regulating, supervising, and advancing non-governmental real estate activities, with a core objective of attracting investment to the sector in line with its overarching strategic vision.
The Kingdom’s real estate sector continues to draw international attention, with high-net-worth individuals from nine Muslim-majority countries preparing to commit $2 billion toward property purchases in Makkah and Madinah, according to a report released by Knight Frank earlier this month.
The findings showed that 84 percent of global HNWIs surveyed expressed interest in acquiring property in Saudi Arabia — with a clear preference for its two holy cities.
Nearly half, or 48 percent, of those respondents said they plan to use homes in Makkah as their main residence, pointing to a shift toward long-term occupancy rather than seasonal or purely investment-driven holdings.
Oil Updates — prices nudge higher amid economic uncertainty, OPEC+ supply fears
NEW DELHI: Oil prices inched higher on Monday though remained dogged by uncertainty over trade talks between the US and China, clouding the outlook for global growth and fuel demand, while the prospect of OPEC+ raising supply cast more gloom.
Brent crude futures were up 4 cents, or 0.06 percent, at $66.91 a barrel, as of 11:12 a.m. Saudi time. US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.09 cents, or 0.14 percent, to $63.11 a barrel.
Both benchmarks nudged higher for a third session.
“Absence of news is pushing oil prices modestly higher as traders are positioned short ahead of potential increased OPEC+ supply from the May 5 meeting and a significant production boost in the USA,” Michael McCarthy, chief executive officer of online trading platform Moomoo Australia.
Some members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, known as OPEC+, are expected to suggest that the group accelerates oil output hikes for a second consecutive month when they meet on May 5.
Expectations of oversupply and concerns about the impact of tariffs on the global economy caused Brent and WTI to fall by more than 1 percent last week.
The market has been rocked by conflicting signals from US President Donald Trump and Beijing over what progress was being made to de-escalate a trade war that threatens to sap global growth.
“Market players will remain on the lookout for a thaw in the US-China trade war as an opportunity to buy,” said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights.
In the latest comment from Washington, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday did not back Trump’s assertion that negotiations with China were under way. Earlier, Beijing denied any talks were taking place.
Many participants in the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring Meetings said Trump’s administration was still conflicted in its demands from trading partners hit with his sweeping tariffs.
Investors are also watching nuclear talks between Iran and the United States in Oman which continue this week. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said he remained “extremely cautious” about the success of the negotiations.
In Iran, a powerful explosion at its biggest port of Bandar Abbas has killed at least 40, with more than 1,200 people injured, state media reported on Sunday.
On Sunday, top officials in the Trump administration pressed Russia and Ukraine to make headway on a peace deal following a one-on-one meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican a day earlier.
