Yanbu Cement reported a 16.4 per cent rise in third-quarter net profit to SAR163m (US$43.4m), driven by lower cost of sales due to increased production and the government's subsidy on imported clinker.

The result was well ahead of estimates by Al-Rahji Capital who forecast net profit of SAR131m for the three month period (consensus: SAR149m). Yanbu's robust performance came as a surprise to Al-Rahji analysts given that the cement producer's sales decided by eight per cent YoY in the first two months of the third quarter.

"Yanbu remains our top pick in the cement sector as it is one of the largest cement companies with a strong presence in the western region," Al-Rajhi Capital said.

Despite the annual increase, Yanbu's net profit was down 32.37 per cent QoQ from SAR 241m.
Nine-month earnings were SAR609m, falling 7.87 per cent from SAR661m in the same period of last year.