Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabian Amiantit Company achieved net losses of SAR 193.91 million ($51.71 million) in the fourth quarter of 2016 versus net profits of SAR 22.47 million ($5.99 million) in the year-ago period.
The loss was attributed to a heavy decline of domestic sales for the Saudi Arabian subsidiaries, which was due to the postponement and sometimes downsizing or cancellation of projects on the domestic market, according to a bourse filing on Wednesday.
Lower sales prices and the additional provisions considering the low performance on the construction and infrastructure markets in KSA, and in preparation for the future implementation of IFRS also contributed to the loss.
Net operating loss reached SAR 124.12 million in Q4 against net operating profits of SAR 46.2 million in the year-ago period.
The Saudi-listed pharmaceutical company achieved SAR 250.8 million net losses in the twelve months of 2016 versus SAR 101.4 million net profit in 2015.
The whole year negative result was attributable to lower activity than last year in Europe, especially in Amiantit Spain, and higher financial charges due to higher costs charged by banks, the statement said.
Total operating loss reached SAR 71.1 million in 2016 against SAR 220.95 million operating profits in 2015.
Amiantit’s results in Q4 came below the estimates of Riyad Capital the expected the company to post net profits of SAR 10 million, with a 56% retreat, compared to SAR 23 million in the same period of last year.
