• Home
• /
• Corporate
• /
• Business

Almarai profit up, but warns of tough market ahead

Dubai - Posts profit of SR308.5 million up from SR306.5 million in the same period last year

Higher sales helped Saudi Arabia's Almarai to post a marginal rise in first-quarter net profit on Sunday, though the Gulf's largest dairy company warned of challenging market conditions in the face of the region's economic slowdown.
Almarai made a profit of SR308.5 million ($82.3 million) in the three months to March 31, up from SR306.5 million in the same period last year, against an average forecast of SR302 million from five analysts polled by Reuters.
"Given the very competitive market conditions driven by the economic slowdown, the performance of the company has been relatively strong in its core segments," the company said.
In another sign of the challenges facing the Saudi retail sector, Jarir Marketing, one of the kingdom's largest retailers by market value, posted a 29.5 per cent drop in first-quarter net profit on falling sales, particularly for smartphones and other electronics.
For Almarai, sales remained strong, with a 13.6 per cent increase on the back of growth for its dairy and juice, bakery and poultry segments helping to maintain profit levels.
But the company said that the cost of sales rose faster than sales. It said in January that the government's utility price increases and new crop-growing restrictions would increase costs by SR500 million in 2016.