Saudi cement producer Yanbu Cement Co (YCC) registered a decline in its net profit for the first half of 2009 to SAR302.8m (US$80.7m) from SAR 317.8m a year ago.

The decrease was chiefly due to lower sales during the six-month period, Yanbu Cement said without giving exact figures.

The earnings per share (EPS) stood at SAR 2.88, down from SAR 3.03.

The operating profit fell to SAR306m for the first six months of 2009, from SAR319.7m a year earlier.

For the second quarter of 2009, the company posted a net profit of SAR151m, almost unchanged from SAR149.4m in the same period last year.