Al Othaim Markets estimates electricity and water tariff changes will add about 0.5% of revenue to annual operating costs · Retail

Retail · Daily edition · Saturday, 31 October 2026 · العربية

Retail brief
Saturday, 31 October 2026 · Jumada I 20, 1448 AH

Stores, spending and the Gulf consumer

Monitoring window: 00:00 on 30 Oct to 06:00 on 31 Oct, Riyadh time

Retail in Saudi Arabia · 2 min read

Al Othaim Markets estimates electricity and water tariff changes will add about 0.5% of revenue to annual operating costs

The bottom line

RiskNew utility tariffs raise grocery chains' costs from 2027; Al Othaim puts the hit at about 0.5% of revenue.

WatchJewellery spending rose 19.6% in a week as the Commerce Ministry tightens ID-verification rules for gold shops.

Markets

Brent crude

117.64 $/barrel ▲ 2.4%

Gold

3,874.40 $/oz ▼ 3.5%

Saudi market index (TASI)

9,921.50 points

S&P 500

7,580.07 points ▼ 1.8%

30 Oct close (Gold: 30 Oct, intraday; Saudi market index (TASI): 29 Oct)

Situation

US travel advisory: US non-emergency staff ordered to leave Saudi Arabia (Al-Monitor‎, updated Sat 31 Oct)

Today at a glance

Al Othaim Markets estimates tariff changes will cost about 0.5% of revenue annually from 2027

Competitors →

Nahdi Medical lifts Q3 net profit 6.6% to 171.8m riyals

Competitors →

Commerce Ministry requires gold and jewellery shops to display ID-verification notice for transactions of 50,000 riyals or more

Regulation →

The lead story

Al Othaim Markets sees tariff changes adding about 0.5% of revenue to annual costs

Sources: Mubasher‎, MarketScreener‎ · yesterday

What happened

The company said the electricity, water and sewage tariff adjustments effective 1 January 2027 will raise annual operating costs by about 0.5% of total revenue, on preliminary estimates, starting to show in Q1 2027 results. It says it is pursuing energy-saving and efficiency initiatives.

Why it matters

The estimate offers Retail companies a benchmark for the new tariffs' likely hit to margins from January 2027.

◆ Sector leaders

Nahdi Medical lifts Q3 net profit 6.6% to 171.8m riyals

Revenue rose 9.4% year on year to 2.69bn riyals, with healthcare sales up 23.9% and regional operations up 31.4%, while gross margin fell on segment mix. The share rose 7.48% to 89.10 riyals.

Sources: Asharq Al-Awsat‎, Mubasher‎, MarketScreener‎ · 2 days ago

◆ Regulation (2)

Commerce Ministry requires jewellery shops to display ID-verification notice for 50,000+ riyals transactions

The ministry requires precious metals and stones traders to post a visible notice in all branches telling customers their identity must be verified for sale or purchase transactions.

Why it matters: The obligation applies to every branch of jewellery retailers and touches their customer-service procedures.

Source: Al Riyadh‎ · 21h ago

Official gazette

Cabinet merges foreign trade and export development authorities into one body

By Council of Ministers

The merger takes effect once the new authority's arrangements are approved; it links to the Supreme Committee for Trade, Industry, Localisation and Exports, and the Commerce Minister becomes vice-chairman of the standards authority's board.

Source: Umm Al-Qura‎ · 7 days ago

◆ Industry & market

Saudi point-of-sale spending hits 11.78bn riyals in one week

Spending was recorded in the week ending 24 October 2026, with jewellery purchases up 19.6%.

Source: Arabian Business‎ · 21h ago

◆ Saudi Arabia: security & major events

Civil Defence: one injured, property damaged by debris of two intercepted missiles in Riyadh

The missiles were launched by the Houthis, per the sources; the coalition later reported intercepting drones over Riyadh and Makkah regions and a missile toward the south. The US ordered non-emergency staff to leave, warning of airspace closures and flight cancellations.

Sources: Al Arabiya‎, الأناضول بالعربية‎, Sabq‎ · yesterday

◆ Worth reading

Europe

The State of Grocery Retail Europe: implications for packaging players

Growth pressure on European grocers limits packaging suppliers' opportunities; cost competitiveness remains imperative.

Why it matters: Grocers' growth pressure passes to suppliers and makes cost the basis of competition.

Source: McKinsey‎ · 9 days ago

◆ On the radar

◆ Sun 1 Nov: OPEC+ monthly meeting on oil output levels OPEC‎

◆ Fri 1 Jan: Electricity, water and sewage tariff adjustments take effect Mubasher‎

For this brief we read 50 stories and chose 7.
Ijaz selects and summarizes the news with AI and can get things wrong. Check the source before relying on a story. Report any error to hello@ijaz.ai.

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