Saudi's Almarai second-quarter profit rises 2.4 pct

DUBAI - 23 July 2017: Saudi Arabia's Almarai, the Gulf's largest dairy company, reported an 2.38 percent increase in second-quarter net profit on Sunday, below the average forecast in a Reuters analyst poll.

Almarai made a profit of 674.1 ‍​million riyals ($180 million) in the three months to June 30, up from a revised quarterly profit of 658.4 million riyals in the year-earlier period, according to a bourse statement.

Revenue dropped 4.2 percent to 3.76 billion riyals from the same period a year earlier as last year's tough market conditions continued in the second quarter, the company said, adding that it remained cautious for the rest of the year.

Currency devaluation in Egypt, lower exports, and weaker consumer sentiment impacted the company's quarterly performance, particularly in the dairy and juice segment, Almarai said.

Three analysts polled by Reuters had forecast on average that Almarai would make 694.3 million riyals.

In June, the Saudi market regulator approved Almarai's request to increase capital to 10 billion riyals from 8 billion through the issuance of bonus shares.

Almarai has lost access to the Qatari market since June after Saudi Arabia severed trade and travel links with its neighbour in the Gulf's most severe diplomatic split in years.