Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia-based National Agricultural Development Company (NADEC) on Sunday reported a 95.6% year-on-year profit drop in 2018.
NADEC’s net profits, after taxes and zakat, amounted to SAR 1.74 million ($0.46 million) last year, compared to SAR 39.94 million ($10.64 million) in 2017, according to a statement to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).
Meanwhile, revenues rose 3.1%, logging SAR 2.1 billion in 2018, compared to SAR 2.03 billion in the prior year.
The Saudi company attributed the 2018 profit decline to the reduced value of the agriculture sector assets due to the ban on forage cultivation which lowered the net profit for the fiscal year by SAR 52.67 million.
The profit retreat was also ascribed to the 18.8% increase in general and administrative expenses and the 12.8% growth in financing expenses.
During the fourth quarter of 2018, NADEC’s net losses hiked 529.2% to SAR 47.88 million, compared to SAR 7.61 million in the prior-year period, according to statistics conducted by Mubasher.
From January to September 2018, the Saudi firm’s net profits grew 4.35% to SAR 49.62 million versus SAR 47.55 million in the corresponding period in 2017.
At the end of Thursday’s trading session, NADEC’s stock fell 0.9% to SAR 28.
