Saudi’s PIF slashes value of giga-projects by $8bn
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund trimmed the value of its giga-projects by $8 billion on its books last year, as it looks to manage its costs effectively.
The Public Investment Fund valued its giga projects that include the ultra-futuristic city NEOM, Diriyah, Red Sea Global, Qiddiya and the Roshn Group, at 211 billion Saudi riyals ($56.2 billion) last year, down 12.4% over the year 2023. The five mega-projects represented 6% of the fund’s assets under management at the end of last year, down from 8% in 2023.
That came, as its international diversified pool grew 26% with a significant minority stake in Selfridges Group and a 5% stake in the holding company of Heathrow Airport last year.
The fund’s Saudi equity holdings (SEH) also rose almost 60% from $207 billion in 2023 to $330 billion at the end of 2024. The SEH investment pool consists of more than 15 publicly listed companies with a combined market capitalization of $295 billion.
PIF’s cumulative real non-oil GDP contribution between 2021 and 2024 grew to $243 billion, it said in a statement Wednesday.
“Capital deployment across priority sectors reached $56.8 billion in 2024, bringing cumulative investment since the beginning of 2021 to more than $171 billion,” said Yasir A. AlSalman, PIF’s chief financial officer.
Overall, assets under management rose $147 billion to $913 billion last year and is expected to reach $1 trillion by the end of 2025. PIF increased its domestic investments worth $725 billion to comprise 80% of its total portfolio. On balance, PIF’s annual average portfolio return stood at 7.2% since 2017.
Total revenues rose 25% over the year to reach $110 billion as of end-2024. Cost of revenue and administration and selling expenses rose 24% and 63% respectively, chipping away at operating profit that spiraled 50% to reach $9.22 billion. Net profit as of end-2024 plunged 60% to $6.9 billion.
The fund launched 16 new companies last year, pushing its total portfolio companies to 2024.
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