UAE-based Arkan Building Materials has seen a 13.8 per cent fall in net profit to AED10.53m (US$2.87m) during the first quarter of 2020, compared to AED12.21m in the year-ago period.
Total revenues decreased 11.4 per cent YoY to AED208.17m from AED234.99m.
"The challenging construction market has not been helped by the emergence of COVID-19, towards the end of the first quarter," said the chairman of Arkan, Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri. "The increase in operating profit is due to a better performance from our pipes business and the cost control measures the management team has been implementing right across the business."