RIYADH: Capital increase requests from companies amounting to SR100 billion ($26.6 billion) were approved by the Saudi Capital Market Authority from January 2018 until the end of the first half of 2022, it has been revealed. Some 116 firms applied to increase capital over the period, the Undersecretary of the CMA for Listed Companies and Investment Products Abdullah bin Ghannam explained. CMA gave approval for a variety of requests, including capitalization, offering of priority rights shares and the transfer of debt The requests to increase capital by issuing a capitalization topped the list of applications, with 60.3 percent, followed by 37.1 percent rights issue applications, while debt conversion constituted 2.6 percent of the total approvals. One of the most prominent approved capital increase requests this year was Aramco"s request to increase its capital through bonus shares issuance in April, to SR75 billion from SR60 billion, through issuing one bonus share for every 10 existing shares. The CMA will work on the development of suitable procedures and initiatives to enable different types of companies, including government-owned companies and other types of government-owned assets, to offer and list their shares in the capital market, SPA said. This aims to reflect the true contribution of these companies to the national economy, without jeopardizing investor protection.