Riyadh – Mubasher: Almarai’s stock continued its positive performance on Sunday, registering its fourth straight gain and surging to its highest level since listing in August 2005.
By 12:41 pm Saudi time, Almarai’s stock grew 1.8% to SAR 83.30 on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), logging at a turnover of SAR 23.2 million after 275,070 shares were traded through 512 transactions.
On Thursday, Almarai said its board has reviewed the company’s five-year plan for the period from 2018 to 2022, noting that it expects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7%, which is a decline compared to the previous five-year period.
In the meantime, the Tadawul All Shares Index (TASI) was in the red, falling 0.7% or 47.89 points to 6,817.59 points.
Last week, Almarai’s board recommended raising the company’s capital by 25% to SAR 10 billion from SAR 8 billion through the distribution of 1-for-4 bonus shares.
Accordingly, the number of shares will increase to 1 billion from 800 million, the dairy company said, noting that the capital top-up will be financed through capitalising SAR 2 billion from the company’s retained earnings.
Almarai last reported a 13.7% year-on-year increase in profits to SAR 328.3 million ($87.42 million) in the first quarter of 2017, compared to SAR 288.7 million ($76.88 million) in Q1-16 on the back of lower cost of sales despite higher alfalfa costs, in addition to a decline in selling and distribution expenses.
