Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed’s Kingdom posts 22% Q2 profit drop

Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding, the investment firm owned by billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, posted a 22 per cent fall in second-quarter net profit on Thursday as income from associates and dividends declined.

The investment firm has minority stakes in some of the world’s top companies. These include Citigroup and microblogging site Twitter.

Kingdom made a net profit of SAR 185.8m ($49.5m) in the three months to June 30, down from SAR 238.3m in the same period a year earlier, it said in a bourse statement.

It attributed the fall in net profit to lower income from associates, joint ventures and other income sources, in addition to a decrease in dividends income, a rise in finance charges as well as general and administrative costs.

Saudi companies issue brief earnings statements early in each reporting period before publishing more detailed results later.

Kingdom has started a sales process for its Four Seasons hotel in the Canadian city of Toronto, with the property expected to sell for as much as C$250m, Reuters reported on June 6 citing sources familiar with the matter.