Zamil Industrial 2012 net profit soars 31%

Zamil Industrial Investment Company, the fourth largest Saudi Arabian industrial firm by market capitalisation, said its full year 2012 profit increased 31 percent because of improved operational efficiency and performance from overseas operations, as well as enhanced asset utilisation in the steel sector.

Net profit increased to SAR201.5m (US$3.7m) in 2012 from SAR154.2m in the previous year, the company said in a statement. Profits for the fourth quarter increased 70.7 percent to SAR61.4m, compared to SAR36m during the same period in 2011.

The company is likely to see similar growth next year as a result of greater demand in the kingdom, spurred by Saudi Arabia's government spending heavily on infrastructure.

"We will continue to grow positively in the year 2013 - the economy is still very strong, the government demand in the oil and gas sector is still very strong and we're a major player in that field," Abdulla Al Zamil, CEO, said in an interview with Arabian Business in November.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter and the Arab world’s biggest economy, is spending US$219bn this year on education, healthcare, social benefits and infrastructure. The government is also encouraging the private sector to invest in expanding the tourism and hospitality industry in the holy city of Makkah in a bid to create more jobs.

Saudi Arabia's economy is set to slow this year to an estimated 4.2 percent from about 6 percent in 2012, according to International Monetary Fund projections.

Zamil Industrial, founded in 1998, sells its products in more than 90 countries with manufacturing facilities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Austria, India, Vietnam and Italy. The company employs more than 10,000 people in 55 countries. It derives about 40 percent of its revenue from outside the kingdom.

The company may buy two companies in the Gulf kingdom's construction and building materials sector for as much as SAR300m in the coming year, Al Zamil said in the November interview.