Saudi’s Jarir Marketing Q1 Net Profit Rises 22.7%, Beats Forecasts

Jarir Marketing, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest retailer by market value, posted a 22.7 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit on Wednesday, beating analysts’ forecasts.

It made a net profit of SAR247 million ($65.9 million) in the three months to March 31, compared to SAR201.3 million in the same period a year earlier, it said in a bourse statement.

Four analysts polled by Reuters had forecast, on average, a quarterly net profit of SAR231.21 million.

The company said the earnings increase was due to strong sales in all sections of its business, especially electronic items, as well as increased consumer spending power as a result of a two-month salary bonus for the Kingdom’s state employees announced in January.