Risk profile may exhibit wide variation with changes in economic / sector conditions

Riyadh: Tassnief has assigned long-term entity rating of ‘BB+’ (Double B Plus) and short-term entity rating of ‘T-5’ to Multi Business Group for Projects Company (‘MBG’ or ‘The Company’). The outlook on the long-term rating is ‘Stable’. Tassnief considers the rated issuer or issuance hold low to moderate credit risk. Risk profile may exhibit wide variation with changes in economic / sector conditions.
Rating Rationale: The ratings reflect a moderately large operational scale and a proven track record spanning 15 years in fit-out building contracting work and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering (MEP). The organization has successfully completed over 100 projects for more than 50 clients. The business risk profile is influenced by ongoing projects, which indicate a decline in revenues during the first half of 2024, although revenue during the first half of 2024 indicates growth of 28% compared with the first half of 2023. Additionally, while the order backlog is low, client renewals provide comfort to revenue stability. There is a significant sales concentration risk due to a limited number of projects and small client base, leading to low revenue diversity. Successful execution of the business plan within budget and securing additional projects are essential for driving future growth.
The governance structure is above par, characterized by a recently established four-member board with independent directors, an active audit committee, external audit engagement, and adequate IT infrastructure. Additionally, MBG benefits from diligent project management, a seasoned management team, effective performance tracking, and the presence of ISO certifications. However, there is room for improvement in the area of recording detailed meeting minutes.
The financial risk evaluation considered a rising revenue trend accompanied by improved profit margins, which enhanced overall performance. The cash conversion cycle is manageable, and the aging profile of trade debts is satisfactory. Capital buffers are increasing due to profit retention, and the debt profile comprises solely long-term obligations. While repayment capabilities are adequate, there is risk associated with timing mismatches. Sponsor support remains crucial for handling client payment delays to maintain viability.
Rating Triggers: Maintaining the governance and control framework, securing sponsor funding for operational costs and growth support, and meeting revenue growth targets are essential. The company must also maintain its earnings profile, liquidity metrics, and leverage ratios. Any decline in earnings or key risk metrics could negatively impact the ratings.
About the Company: 
Multi Business Group for Projects Company is a Closed Joint Stock Company, registered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Headquartered in Riyadh, MBG also has three additional branches in the region. Business activities span fit-out building contracting and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering.
For further information on this rating announcement, please contact Mr. Nabil Kadasa (Ext. 8791) at 9200 03594 or email at <a href="mailto:RS@tassnief.com">RS@tassnief.com</a>. The rating announcement can also be viewed through the below link
RELATED CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGY 
Rating Methodology for Corporate (v.2. 2019) can be found on the website: <a href="http://www.tassnief.com/">www.tassnief.com</a>

Simah Rating Agency (Tassnief) assigns entity ratings to multi business group for projects company

Simah Rating Agency (Tassnief) assigns entity ratings to multi business group for projects company | TASSNIEF

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The assigned rating is indicative of robust financial profile, low risk factors and high prospect of meeting policyholder liabilities

Riyadh: Tassnief has assigned national scale Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) rating of A- (Single A Minus) to Malath Cooperative Insurance Co. (“Malath” or the “Company”). The outlook on the rating is “Stable”. The assigned rating is indicative of robust financial profile, low risk factors and high prospect of meeting policyholder liabilities. The rating has also been placed on “Rating Watch – Positive” status on account of proposed merger with Liva Insurance Company. The rating will be reviewed upon the completion and finalization of the merger.
Rating Rationale: The assigned ratings incorporate Malath’s solid operational track record and current market position as a mid-sized insurance Company with a market share of around 1.8% in terms of gross premiums at end September-2024. Rating also takes into account the Company’s conservative investment profile, sound reinsurance program &amp; low net risk retention, satisfactory risk adjusted capitalization levels, and sound governance and risk management framework. The assessment further incorporates a diverse senior leadership team, with expertise across insurance, finance, technology, and risk management sectors.
The Company’s business mix incorporates healthy presence across 3 main segments, i.e. health, motor and property &amp; casualty segments. Diversification in customer mix compares favorably as compared to peers and bodes well from a risk perspective. Gross premiums mix by customer type has depicted an improving trend particularly in 9M2024 with individuals and SMEs accounting for around 70% of the gross premiums. Growing business from individuals and SMEs remains a key focus area for the Company. Tassnief is of view that regulatory initiatives by the Insurance Authority (IA) will be important in supporting business growth, market stability, and enhance financial strengthen of the sector.
Rating Triggers: Key rating trigger for the Company would be successful merger with Liva, an increase in market position and a greater diversification in business mix while improving underwriting performance and capitalization buffers. Moreover, strengthening financial flexibility through increasing absolute quantum of profitability and equity base remains important.
About the Company: Malath Cooperative Insurance Co. (“Malath” or the “Company”) is a listed Saudi Joint Stock Company registered in KSA with CR#1010231787 dated April 09, 2007. Malath was listed on Tadawul in May 2017. The Company’s shareholding is held by general public and institutional investors, with no single shareholder owing 5% or more. Malath’s principal lines of business include medical, motor, marine, fire, engineering, casualty and other general insurance.
For further information on this rating announcement, please contact Mr. Talha Iqbal (Ext. 6627) at +966-112506627 or email at RS@Tassnief.com.
RELATED CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGY
Rating Methodology for Insurance (v.2. 2024) can be found on the website: www.tassnief.com

Simah Rating Agency assigns solicited insurer financial strength ratings of A- to MALATH Cooperative Insurance Co.

Simah Rating Agency assigns solicited insurer financial strength ratings of A- to MALATH Cooperative Insurance Co. | TASSNIEF

Imad Kurdi, CEO of Simah Rating Agency (Tassnief), said the Public Investment Fund&#8217;s (PIF) economic enhancement program aims to unify financial solvency assessments for contractors and PIF-affiliated firms. The goal is to ensure efficient project execution and sustainable funding support.

Speaking to Argaam at the PIF-Private Sector Forum, Kurdi explained that the program aims to develop a unified credit rating system. This helps determine the project scale each contractor can handle based on financial capacity, improving transparency and reducing funding assessment discrepancies.
The methodology balances financial metrics (40%) with sector, industry, and management quality criteria. This structured approach ensures contractors take on projects aligned with their financial strength.
Kurdi highlighted that standardizing risk assessments across PIF-affiliated firms minimizes rating discrepancies and strengthens confidence among financiers and contractors.
He highlighted the collaboration with insurers and the Insurance Authority to introduce surety bonds as an alternative to bank guarantees, improving project efficiency and reducing reliance on bank facilities.
Project solvency has risen by an average of 28% since implementing the new framework, Kurdi said.
This improvement reflects greater contractor efficiency in executing mega-projects tied to Vision 2030, ensuring timely completion, he added.

Unified credit ratings for PIF project contractors: Tassnief CEO

Unified credit ratings for PIF project contractors: Tassnief CEO | TASSNIEF

The assigned ratings reflect adequate creditworthiness, thus low credit risk

Riyadh: Tassnief has maintained the long-term national scale entity rating of “(BBB-)’’ (Triple B Minus) and a short-term entity rating of “T-4” assigned to Quara Finance Company (&#8216;Quara&#8217; or &#8216;the Company&#8217;). The assigned ratings reflect adequate creditworthiness, thus low credit risk. Risk profile may exhibit moderately high variation with changes in economic / sector conditions.
Rating Rationale: The assigned ratings incorporate a largely sustained profitability profile, superior capitalization and liquidity indicators vis-à-vis peers, and sufficient funding sources to support business growth. Ratings also reflect sound governance &amp; risk management framework, demonstrated sponsor support and implementation of comprehensive policies &amp; procedures. However, the ratings are constrained by increasingly competitive sector dynamics, weak market position, and weakening of reported asset quality indicators in the ongoing year.  Nevertheless, Tassnief considers the overall balance sheet risk to be manageable given sizeable equity base, and a notable portion of non-performing loans are guaranteed by Kafala.
Gross loan portfolio has declined at end-2023 and end-9M2024, as the impact of steady growth in retail portfolio was more than offset by decrease in MSME portfolio. However, retail portfolio has witnessed healthy growth over the last 2 years. Given the sharp increase in disbursement in the retail segment in recent months and trend of upcoming maturities, Tassnief anticipates growth momentum in gross loan portfolio to accelerate. Business diversity is considered satisfactory with low client concentration in both MSME and retail portfolios and adequate geographic diversification in the gross loan portfolio. Asset quality indicators are also expected to improve from levels reported at end-September 2024 with effective controls now in place for the segment that was contributing the most to the rise in infection levels. Going forward, profitability profile will be a function of strong portfolio growth in the high yielding retail segment.
Rating Triggers: Ratings remain dependent on the Company’s ability to successfully execute its business plan, grow its market share while sustaining current profitability, liquidity and capitalization indicators. Improvement in asset quality indicators and reduction in net-NPLs to Tier 1 equity is also important.
About the Company: Quara Finance Company (&#8216;Quara&#8217; or &#8216;the Company&#8217;) is a Joint Stock Company registered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under commercial registration number 1010262141 dated February 4, 2009. Quara is actively engaged in providing finance lease, consumer finance, and small and medium enterprise finance services within the KSA. The Company operates from its head office in Riyadh. The financial statements for 2023 have been audited by PWC Certified Public Accountants. The auditors have expressed an unqualified opinion on these statements.
For further information on this rating announcement, please contact Mr. Talha Iqbal email at RS@Tassnief.com.
RELATED CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGY
Rating Methodology for Banks and Finance Companies can be found on the website: 
www.tassnief.com

Simah Rating Agency (Tassnief) maintains national scale entity ratings of Quara Finance Company

Simah Rating Agency (Tassnief) maintains national scale entity ratings of Quara Finance Company | TASSNIEF

The outlook on the rating is “Stable”

Riyadh: Tassnief has assigned initial long-term entity rating of “A-” (Single A Minus) to Middle East Paper Company (‘MEPCO’ or ‘the Company’) with a short-term rating of T-3. The outlook on the rating is “Stable”. Tassnief considers the rated issuer to hold high creditworthiness and thus low credit risk although the risk profile may vary with changes in economic / sector conditions.
Rating Rationale: The assigned ratings incorporate MEPCO’s leading market position with the Company being one of the largest manufacturers of containerboard in the region. Ratings also reflect Company’s diversified product offerings (11 products including tissue manufacturing) &amp; sales mix in terms of local and export sales which is a competitive advantage over peers, exposure to fast growing sectors and strong operating performance in terms of consistently high-capacity utilization. The Company’s satisfactory liquidity profile, sound capitalization indicators and conservative financial policy are also key rating drivers. With planned expansions, long-term borrowings are expected to increase over the rating horizon; however, Tassnief anticipates leverage indicators to remain within manageable levels.
Ratings are constrained by inherent cyclicality in business dynamics, which leads to volatility in revenues and margins and current oversupply situation in select markets which might continue to limit pricing power for industry players. Going forward, the Company is in the process of doubling its capacity for containerboard and tissue manufacturing and forward integrating into the corrugated boxes segment which will strengthen market position, diversify product offerings &amp; revenue streams and facilitate in reducing volatility in revenues and margins.
Rating Triggers: Successful execution of expansion initiatives, which leads to an increase in scale of operations and financial flexibility will be a positive rating trigger. Moreover, Company’s ability to reduce volatility in business and financial risk profile through successful execution of diversification efforts remains important.
About the Company: MEPCO is a Saudi Joint Stock Company registered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the commercial registration number 4030131516 dated September 30, 2000. MEPCO and its subsidiaries, collectively referred to as &#8220;the Group&#8221;, are involved in the manufacturing and sale of containerboard, industrial paper, and tissue paper. MEPCO was listed on Tadawul on May 3, 2015. Ratings also account for sound corporate governance framework which draws comfort from board composition being in line with best practices, effective board oversight, formalized succession planning framework, structured decision-making process and sound internal control framework. Transparency and disclosures are satisfactory and provide important information for the stakeholders. Tassnief believes that Company’s ESG considerations will support sustainability of operations in an industry characterized by high water &amp; energy intensity and deforestation.
For further information on this rating announcement, please contact Mr. Talha Iqbal (Ext. 6627) at +966-112506627 or email at <a href="mailto:RS@Tassnief.com">RS@Tassnief.com</a>.
RELATED CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGY
Rating Methodology for Corporate (v.2. 2019) can be found on the website: <a href="http://www.tassnief.com/">www.tassnief.com</a>

Simah Rating Agency (Tassnief) assigns initial solicited national scale entity ratings to Middle East Paper Company

Simah Rating Agency (Tassnief) assigns initial solicited national scale entity ratings to Middle East Paper Company | TASSNIEF

Simah Rating Agency (Tassnief) maintained its credit rating for <a href="https://www.argaam.com/en/tadawul/tasi/awpt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies Co.</a> at “A-” for the long term and “T-3&#8243; for the short term.

These ratings reflect a robust credit profile and show high creditworthiness and very low credit risk, Alkhorayef Water said in a statement to Tadawul today, Sept. 5.
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The assigned credit rating grade reflects the positive outlook of Tassnief on Alkhorayef Water. This outlook is based on several key factors, including the company&#8217;s well-defined strategic plans and strong operational capabilities.
The ratings agency also indicated that Alkhorayef Water&#8217;s ability to generate strong cash flows and achieve consistent revenue growth further supports its positive outlook, adding that the company&#8217;s solid financial position and favorable credit indicators demonstrate its ability to meet future financing requirements.
Given its strong financial performance and creditworthiness, the company maintained the highest classification degree, &#8220;High Grade&#8221;, from the relevant regulatory authorities, it added.

Tassnief affirms Alkhorayef Water’s rating at ‘A-‘

Tassnief affirms Alkhorayef Water’s rating at ‘A-‘ | TASSNIEF

Simah Rating Agency (Tassnief) issued 12 credit ratings for Saudi companies under its 2023 national metric, in addition to hundreds of private credit ratings reports, CEO Emad Kordi told Argaam.

Kordi pointed out that the Saudi-based agency began issuing its first economic report, which assessed the challenges facing the local contracting sector. The report is expected to be published next March, focusing on the financing aspects of sector companies.
<a href="https://www.argaam.com/en/tags/id/6578/1/argaam" target="_blank" rel="noopener">For more exclusive interviews</a>
The CEO highlighted Tassnief’s key role in the Saudi capital market as it boosts transparency and reliability among parties involved, besides enhancing the way credit rating works locally and key drivers. This is coupled with the agency’s work mechanism, which guarantees the independence and impartiality of its credit ratings.

Tassnief issued 12 credit ratings under its 2023 national metric: CEO

Tassnief issued 12 credit ratings under its 2023 national metric: CEO | TASSNIEF

Simah Rating Agency (Tassnief) maintained long-term entity rating of “AAA’’ and short-term entity rating of &#8220;T-1&#8221; assigned to telecom firm stc, with a &#8220;Stable&#8221; outlook.

The long-term rating of ‘AAA’ denotes the highest creditworthiness and minimal credit risk, relative to other issuers or obligations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The short-term rating of T-1 indicates the strongest capacity for timely payment of financial commitments relative to other issuers or obligations, said the rating agency.
It added that the reaffirmation of stc’s AAA rating incorporates robust operating and financial performance and expected continuity of the same over the rating horizon.
Furthermore, the assigned ratings reflect stc’s leading market position and strong franchise, extensive network infrastructure and the company being an integrated Information Communication Technology (ICT) conglomerate with a diversified product portfolio and presence across almost all facets of ICT industry, Tassnief said.
The ratings also consider stc&#8217;s low business risk profile, strong balance sheet, conservative financial policy, low leveraged capital structure, healthy cash flow generation and abundant liquidity (cash &amp; cash equivalents and investments), which provide the company with financial flexibility and are key rating drivers.
Tassnief does not anticipate any downward pressure on the ratings of stc over the rating horizon.
<a title="Tassnief - Press Release" href="https://api.tassneif.e8demo.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/3879b729-dc09-489d-9dec-a629843f4232.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tassnief &#8211; Press Release</a>
<a title="Tassnief - stc's credit rating " href="https://api.tassneif.e8demo.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/3dd63c03-a913-460b-ab66-d075847e6295.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tassnief &#8211; stc&#8217;s credit rating</a>

Tassnief reiterates 'AAA' rating for stc with stable outlook

Tassnief reiterates 'AAA' rating for stc with stable outlook | TASSNIEF

Tassnief reiterates &#8216;AAA&#8217; rating for stc with stable outlook

Simah Rating Agency (Tassnief) has assigned an issuer rating of “BB” to Maalem Financing Company. The outlook on the rating is stable.

Simah Rating Agency (Tassnief) has assigned an issuer rating of “BB” to Maalem Financing Company. The outlook on the rating is stable. Tassnief has also assigned a preliminary long-term rating of “BB” to the proposed sukuk of Maalem Financing Company.
Tassnief is a Saudi rating agency licensed by the Capital Market Authority (No.15001-08) to conduct rating activities, which include several products such as rating services for corporates, financial institutes, sovereign bonds, sukuk and investment funds, in addition to other products as per the market’s needs.
Tassnief is a business enabler and plays an important role in the financial sector. It enhances transparency for business owners, investors, regulators and the government, as well as clarity and competitiveness for both the local and international economies.
It helps in creating an investment environment that is in accordance with the transformation the Kingdom is witnessing in line with Saudi Vision 2030.

Tassnief assigns ‘BB’ rating to Maalem Financing

Tassnief assigns ‘BB’ rating to Maalem Financing | TASSNIEF

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