FIVE BY CAPITALSA
TUESDAY, 3 NOVEMBER 2026
CapitalSA · Saudi business news, every morning
New here? Five is our daily briefing: the five Saudi business stories that matter, in five minutes.
Not for you? You can unsubscribe at the bottom, and you're always welcome to visit us at TheCapitalSA.com
MARKET CLOSE · MON 2 NOV
TASI 9,882.85 ▲ 0.45% · Top mover: Malath Insurance +8.64%
Morning, everyone.
Oil prices are swinging, flights are down and travel businesses are hurting. Yet one corner of the Saudi economy is still pulling money in. Makkah has become the kingdom's safe haven.
Land near the Grand Mosque is now selling for twice what it's worth on paper. Pilgrims come whatever the headlines say, and there's only so much land within walking distance of the mosque. Foreign buyers are joining local investors to compete for it.
So this morning we follow the money. Some of it is heading into the holy city. Some is heading east to the Gulf coast. And some is sitting in a rocket company's shares.
Here’s today’s Five.
01 / REAL ESTATE
Umm Al Qura, the developer behind Masar Destination, has sold three plots on the road leading to the Grand Mosque for about SR440 million ($118 million), it said in a filing. Masar Destination is a hotel, housing and shopping district along that road.
The plots were on its books at around SR214 million, or roughly SR60,000 per square meter. The buyer is a Saudi real estate fund that plans residential towers there.
Why it matters: while flights and events stall, holy-city property keeps moving. Demand in Makkah is “driven by faith and not by cycles,” Faisal Shaker, chief executive of Makkah developer Thakher Development, told Bloomberg in an interview.
The money behind it: foreigners have been allowed to buy in the holy city since January. Last month, Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund paid SR2 billion for a hotel and land nearby. It was the first foreign state to buy property in Makkah.
What it did for the books: land sales lifted Umm Al Qura's third-quarter profit 29% to nearly SR670 million. That's triple what it made the quarter before.
02 / TRAVEL
Here's the other side of the coin. Catrion, the airline caterer formerly known as Saudia Catering, said third-quarter profit fell 56% to about SR43 million, according to its filing on Tadawul. A year earlier, it made nearly SR100 million.
What changed: regional disruption meant fewer flights, fewer passengers and fewer meals. Higher financing costs and losses at an associate company made it worse. The company called the pressure temporary.
Catrion catering trucks at a loading dock. (Catrion)
The silver lining: revenue still rose 20% to about SR740 million. Work away from airplanes did the lifting: catering for the Red Sea tourism project, business lounges and hospitals.
Why it matters: Catrion isn't alone. Budget airline flynas lost about SR240 million in the second quarter as fuel costs climbed. Pilgrims keep coming, but business and leisure travellers are staying home.
What to watch: flynas's third-quarter results, due in the coming days.
A GOOD BRIEFING TRAVELS
Know someone making decisions in Saudi Arabia? Send them Five by CapitalSA. Five stories, with the business consequences attached.
03 / REAL ESTATE
Downtown Saudi, a Public Investment Fund company, officially launched Downtown Khobar on Sunday, chief executive Fahad Al-Hammad said.
The seafront district covers more than 829,000 square meters. It will have more than 4,000 homes, 500 hotel rooms, offices and nearly 140,000 square meters of shops and restaurants.
A rendering of Downtown Khobar's shopping boulevard. (Downtown Saudi)
Not brand new: the launch makes official a project that's already moving. Infrastructure works were awarded in July. Before that, Cenomi Centers gave out a SR1.3 billion contract for the district's mall and boulevard.
Private money follows: Riyadh-listed Sumou Real Estate signed three agreements to build homes there, covering about 61,500 square meters. The fund puts in the land, and Sumou builds and sells. In return, Sumou keeps fees plus 32% of the profit.
Why it matters: Riyadh led the last property boom, and the holy cities are now drawing much of the big money. The east, long the kingdom's trading hub, wants a bigger share.
04 / INVESTMENT
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding is getting richer on paper and earning less.
Third-quarter profit fell 62% to about SR304 million, according to its filing. It's the third quarter in a row that profit has fallen.
Kingdom Centre, home to Kingdom Holding, in Riyadh.
What changed: hotel running costs, interest payments, taxes and zakat all went up. Last year's quarter was also flattered by a one-off accounting gain.
The paper side: its investment portfolio is up 17% this year to about SR46 billion, mainly thanks to the SpaceX listing. That gain shows up in the company's net worth, not its profit.
The football side: it completed its SR840 million purchase of 70% of Al Hilal around the start of September. That gave the club only about a month in these results, so the full picture comes next quarter.
What to watch: whether the company sells any SpaceX shares to turn paper into cash.
PARTNER WITH CAPITALSA
Your business has a story. Our readers care what it means. For advertising and partnership enquiries, write to [email protected].
05 / ENERGY
Aramco reports third-quarter results today. It's the first full quarter of numbers since export disruptions deepened.
What to watch:
Volumes: how much crude it actually sold, with Gulf shipments through Hormuz running at about 60% of normal.
Cash flow: whether it still covers the dividend.
Funding: any update on the $10 billion standby loan it's been lining up with global banks.
AI: any word on Humain, the AI firm it bought 49% of last week.
Where markets stand: the main index rose 0.45% on Monday to 9,882. It's still short of the 10,000 mark it briefly crossed last week.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Four Tests to Watch
Tuesday, 3 November / Earnings. Aramco reports third-quarter results. Watch cash flow, the dividend and the first questions on Humain.
This week / Travel. flynas's third-quarter results should show how deep the travel slump runs.
Saturday, 7 November / Events. WWE Crown Jewel is next on the Riyadh Season calendar. Watch whether it goes ahead in Riyadh as planned.
By 30 November / Football. The AFC Asian Cup is due to kick off in Saudi Arabia on 7 January. Some media reports have raised the possibility of a move to January 2028, and the AFC's president has said it can wait until the end of the month to decide. Watch whether the dates hold, and what reason is given if they don't.
AND ONE MORE THING
A Rocket Worth More Than Half a Company
Kingdom Holding's stake in SpaceX was valued at more than SR27 billion after the Nasdaq debut. The whole of Kingdom Holding is worth about SR43 billion on the Saudi market.
So a single bet on an American rocket company is worth more than half of a Saudi conglomerate that owns hotels, a tower and now a football club.
Not every safe haven is on the ground. Some are in orbit.
Five stories. Five minutes.
One step ahead.
Got a news tip, an inquiry or a partnership idea? [email protected]
Forwarded this? Get your own Five.
The news doesn't stop here. Neither do we. See you tomorrow.
