Saudi Cement Q4 Profit Rises 9%, Beats Forecasts

Saudi Cement reported an 8.9 per cent rise in fourth-quarter net profit on Wednesday, beating forecasts as cement sales increased.

The kingdom’s largest cement company by market value made a net profit of SAR269 million ($71.68 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, according to a bourse filing. This compares with a profit of SAR247 million in the corresponding period of 2013.

Analysts polled by Reuters on average forecast Saudi Cement’s quarterly net profit would be SAR259.8 million.

The cement firm attributed its profit rise to higher cement sales and larger earnings from associated companies.

Saudi Cement made a profit of SAR1.08 billion in 2014, down 4.4 per cent on 2013.