Saudi’s SAFCO Q3 Net Profit Rises 24% As Sales Increase

Saudi Arabia Fertilizers Co reported a 24.4 per cent rise in third-quarter net profit on Sunday, beating analysts’ forecasts and ending a sustained profit slump as sales prices and sales volumes increased.

The company, a unit of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), one of the world’s biggest petrochemical companies, said it made a profit of SAR913 million ($243.5 million) in the three months to Sept. 30, up from SAR734 million in the year-earlier period.

A group of nine analysts polled by Reuters forecast on average that Safco would make a quarterly profit of SAR794.7 million.

SAFCO, a big producer of ammonia and urea, is dependent on global demand and prices. Since mid-2013, global players have voiced increasing concerns over the continued fall of urea prices due to China’s ramp up in output.

The firm had reported decreasing year-on-year profits for five consecutive quarters as it suffered from declining urea prices.

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