Saudi Arabian companies report profit falls in 3Q17

Saudi Arabia’s cement companies reported a fall in third-quarter profits when compared with the same period last year.

Hail Cement saw its 3Q profit fall to SAR650,406 (US$173,433) from SAR19.3m in the 3Q16, according to a company statement on the Saudi stock exchange. Profits retreated 75.5 per cent QoQ. Revenues of the Saudi cement producer decreased by 37 per cent from SAR58.2m in 3Q16 to SAR36.9m in 3Q17. Hail Cement’s 9M17 profits decreased 85.2 per cent to SAR11.6m, compared to SAR78.44m in 9M16.

Northern Region Cement reported a 58.4 per cent YoY decrease in profits in 3Q17. Net profits fell to SAR12.51m from SAR30.09 in 3Q16, according to the company’s statement to the Saudi stock exchange. However, QoQ profits surged 51.4 per cent. In the first nine months of 2017, Northern Region saw its profits plunge by 69.4 per cent to SAR37.25m, compared to SAR121.66m in the year-ago period.

Yanbu Cement’s profit declined to SAR18m in 3Q17 from SAR92m in 3Q16.

Najran Cement saw its 3Q16 profit of SAR15.6m disappear as the company reported a loss of SAR17.1m.