Rays of recovery - Saudi Cement reports 11pct growth in Q4 profit

Reuters quoted Saudi Cement Company as saying that its Q4 profit rose by 10.5% due to increased sales.

As per report, Saudi Cement made a net profit of SAR 145.5 million in the 3 months to December 31 compared to SAR 131.7 million in the same period the previous year.

The firm said in a statement that "The reason behind the rise in net profit for the Q4 compared to the year before is due to the relative increase in sales which were negatively affected in the previous year."

Saudi Cement's profits for 2009 declined by 5.3% to SAR 588 million and its earnings per share fell to SAR 5.77 from SAR 6.09 the year earlier. The firm said that the decline in net profits this year compared to the previous year is due to the increase in indirect, fixed production costs.

(Sourced from Reuters)