Yanbu Cement Company expects net profits for the second quarter and the half year to be higher than last year.

The listed suppliers will see net profits rise by 32.7% and 6.55% respectively for the last three months against the same periods in 2010.

Yanbu Cement expects after-tax gains for the second quarter to reach US$40m (SAR150m), up almost a third from the US$30.13m (SAR113m) posted last year and up 4.5% against the first quarter 2011, with gross and operating profits rising 30% and 29% during this time. Net profit for the six months reached US$66.93m (SAR251m), an increase of 5.9% against the first six months last year, following gross profits of US$71.73m (SAR 269m), up 7.6%.