S&P Hands ARDCO First A- Rating on Low Debt, SAR 9B Pipeline

S&P Global assigned Riyadh Development Company a long-term credit rating of A- on its national scale for Saudi Arabia. The Tadawul-listed firm received the assessment for the first time from a global agency. The rating carries a stable outlook.

S&P said the grade reflects ARDCO's low financial leverage and the high quality of its income-generating assets. The company held roughly SAR 1 billion in cash and short-term investments as of the assessment, giving it room to cover upcoming financing needs without straining its credit profile.

The rating comes two years into a phased turnaround plan called Invest for Growth, launched in early 2023. In the first phase, the company sold off underused or non-core assets to clean up the balance sheet. The second phase, now running, targets portfolio diversification across priority real estate sectors and a shift to a holding company model.

The development pipeline that feeds that strategy stands at SAR 9 billion in total project value, the company said.

In the first quarter of 2026, ARDCO posted net profit of SAR 50.48 million on sales of SAR 103.89 million.

The stable outlook implies S&P expects the credit profile to stay intact over the next 12 to 18 months, absent a major shift in leverage or liquidity.