Tuesday, March 3, 2015

SAUDI ARABIA: Cement sales surge 3.8% to SR13.5bn in 2014

Sales of the listed cement firms grew by 3.8 percent to hit SR13.5 billion in 2014 compared to SR13 billion in 2013, according to a financial report.

Likewise, net profits of the cement sector rose by 6.10 percent in the year to SR6.2 billion compared to SR5.83 billion in the previous year, a report published by Al-Hayat daily said.

Capitals of the 14 listed cement companies stand at SR18.4 billion with their market capitalization worth SR82.3 billion, or 4.6 percent of the value of Saudi stock market, the report said.

Yamamah Cement Company (YCC) is considered the biggest in the terms of capital, which stands at SR2.02 billion, followed by Madinah Cement Company (MCC) at SR1.89 billion, the Northerly Border Cement Company (NBCC) at SR1.8 billion while Um Al-Qura Cement Company (UQCC) was the least at SR550 million, the report said.

Meanwhile, the National Committee for Cement Companies (NCCC) said the volume of demand on cement is poised to grow by 4 percent to reach SR59.5 million tons in the current year compared to 57.2 million tons in 2014, the report said.

Earlier, cement companies have called for opening doors to export surplus products which, they say, will have positive impact on all companies. They claimed that export ban had led to impede production lines and curb other economic activities related to the export operations in a manner that accumulated the cement surpluses of companies to more than 22 million tons, the report said.

Based on the financial reports of the listed companies, all firms have registered positive results in the year with the exception of one company, notably UQCC, which posted net losses of SR28 million for being new as it was established in July 2013 and listed on the Saudi stock exchange (Tadawul) in June 2014, the report added.

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