By Tahani Karrar

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Saudi’s Almarai warns of adverse market conditions as Q3 profit remains flat

Higher operating costs and devaluation of the Egyptian pound among reasons cited

By Tahani Karrar
The Gulf’s largest dairy company Almarai on Sunday reported a flat third-quarter net profit and warned it remained cautious of adverse market conditions, citing higher operating costs, devaluation of the Egyptian pound and lower exports.
The Gulf’s largest dairy company Almarai on Sunday reported a flat third-quarter net profit and warned it remained cautious of adverse market conditions, citing higher operating costs, devaluation of the Egyptian pound and lower exports.

The Gulf’s largest dairy company Almarai on Sunday reported a flat third-quarter net profit and warned it remained cautious of adverse market conditions, citing higher operating costs, devaluation of the Egyptian pound and lower exports.

Almarai’s third-quarter profit was 667 million riyals ($178 million) versus 664.3 million riyals the year earlier, according to a bourse statement by the company. Revenue was down 4.5 percent to 3.37 billion riyals from the same period a year earlier.

Almarai 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.

Almarai said on October 15 that Saudi Arabia’s top sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) had increased its share capital in the company to 16.32 percent.

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