$148m projects planned

SAUDI ARABIA has unveiled development and utility projects worth SR557 million ($148 million) at Khamis Mushayt, a city in the south-west of the kingdom, said a report.

These projects are related mostly to roads and parks in various branch municipalities in the province, reported the Arab News, citing Prince Mansour bin Miteb, the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs.

A number of major municipal projects are being undertaken in the cities and rural areas of the province, it added.

Alstom secures SEC contract

ALSTOM Grid has been awarded a €47-million ($58.84 million) turnkey contract by Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) to supply flexible AC transmission systems in the kingdom.

Alstom, a global leader in power generation and transmission and rail infrastructure, will supply a Static VAr Compensator (SVC) to the Jeddah substation, on the coast of the Red Sea in western Saudi Arabia, and two capacitor banks to the Wadi Jaleel substation in Makkah, located about 200 km from Jeddah.

The SVC (-150/+300 MVAr at 110 kV) will substantially improve and increase power transmission stability and quality across Saudi Arabia’s power transmission network. The project is expected to be completed by 2016.

Additionally, Alstom will supply two 100 MVAr capacitor banks to the Wadi Jaleel substation in Makkah, and extend an existing gas-insulated substation at Jeddah North 380 kV BSP (bulk supply plant).

Jabal Omar posts $115m profit

JABAL Omar Development, the largest listed real estate developer in Saudi Arabia by market capitalisation, has reported its first quarterly profit in five years.

Since 2009, Jabal Omar, which works on projects in Makkah, has only reported quarterly and yearly losses.

The Saudi developer said it had made a profit of SR431.3 million ($115 million) in the fourth quarter of the Hijri calendar year which ended in late October, compared with a loss of SR17.6 million ($4.68 million) a year earlier. The profit swing also made the Saudi developer’s full year profitable, it stated.

Jadwa eyes real estate

SAUDI ARABIA’S Jadwa Investment, one of the country’s largest privately owned investment firms, is planning to invest in domestic real estate as it expands into new asset classes.

Tariq Al Sudairy, managing director and chief executive officer of Jadwa, said the group will focus on the asset class and target major cities like Riyadh, Makkah and Madinah.

Jadwa will partner with real estate developers to select and execute projects on behalf of clients.