Safco Plans 33.3% Bonus Share Issue

Saudi Arabian Fertilizers Co (Safco) plans to raise its capital by 33.3 per cent through a bonus share issue, the firm said in a bourse statement on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia’s second-largest chemical company, a unit of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), has also proposed a SAR6 dividend for the first half of 2012, it said in the statement.

The share issue will raise Safco’s share capital to SAR3.3 billion ($879.95 million) from SAR.5 billion by distributing one bonus share for every three shares held, the company said.

Safco reported a 0.8 per cent drop in second quarter profit last week, missing analyst forecasts due to lower sales resulting from lower production levels after maintenance work on some of its units.