Profits of listed Saudi firms up 4% to SR114.6 billion in 2014

25/01/2015 08:05 AST

Profits of Saudi listed companies and banks rose by 4 percent to hit SR114.6 billion by the end of 2014 compared to SR110.4 billion in 2013, according to a financial report.

Capitals of the listed companies stood at SR488.5 billion whereas their market capitalization hit SR1.82 trillion, the report filed by Al-Hayat daily said.

The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) remained the biggest listed company in terms of capital, which reached SR41.16 billion, followed by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and Riyad Bank at SR30 billion for each, Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and the National Commercial Bank (NCB) at SR20 billion for each. Bisha Agricultural Development Company (BADC) had the least capital of SR50 million, the report said.

With regard to performance of each company in 2014, SABIC topped by recording the highest profits at SR23.43 billion compared to SR25.23 billon, or a decrease of 7.32 percent. Profits of Q4 dropped by 29.22 percent to SR4.36 billion compared to SR6.16 billion in the same period last year, the report said.

STC ranked second of having the biggest profits, which hit SR11 billion in 2014 compared to SR9.98 billion in 2013, or an increase of 11.23 percent. Profits of Q4 dropped by 32.6 percent to SR2.44 billon compared to SR3.62 billion in Q4, 2013, the report said. Meanwhile, the NCB had its profits jumped by 10.23 percent to SR8.7 billion in the year compared to SR7.85 billion in 2013.

Similarly, its profits of Q4 grew by 1.7 percent to SR1.83 billion compared to SR1.79 billion in Q4, 2013, according to the report.

Al-Rajhi Bank came in the fourth rank to have achieved the highest profits among the listed companies in 2014 at SR6.83 billon compared to SR7.4 billion in 2013, or a drop of 8.1 percent.

Similarly, its profits of Q4 dropped by 1.75 percent to SR1.52 billion compared to SR1.55 billion in Q4, 2013, according to the report.

On the other hand, net profits of Samba Financial Group (SFG) rose by 11.1 percent to reach SR5.01 billion in 2014 compared to SR4.51 billion in 2013. Likewise, its profits of Q4 rose by 22 percent to SR1.23 billion compared to SR1.00 billion in the same period last year, the report said.

In general, 135 listed companies and banks achieved profits while the remaining 29 companies incurred losses during 2014, the report said.

Arab News