Yamama Saudi Cement 1Q12 net profit rises

Yamama Saudi Cement said Tuesday its first-quarter profit surged 54% on the year to SAR278m (US$74.1m) due to higher sales and improved operational efficiency.

First-quarter earnings per share were SAR1.37 versus SAR1.33 a year ago, the company said in a statement posted on the Saudi bourse website. Operating profit for the three-month period rose to SAR287m, compared with SAR184m in the year-earlier period, it said.

Earlier this week domestic peers Yanbu Cement and Qassim Cement also reported a rise in first quarter net profit thanks to higher sales. Cement demand in Saudi Arabia has been rising due to huge government and private sector projects. Furthermore, an expected surge in public expenditure above budgeted levels will further fuel demand growth, National Commercial Bank (NCB) said in its weekly bulletin.

The report expected government expenditure to exceed the budgeted amount by nearly 13 per cent to reach SAR780bn during 2012. It said the surge would increase the need for cement to meet the elevated demand levels, adding that production increased by 5.4Mt to reach 48.4Mt in 2011 in comparison to 2010 and 2009’s production of 43Mt and 37.8Mt, respectively.