Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia's Yanbu National Petrochemical Company (Yansab) on Thursday reported a 70% year-on-year plunge in net profits for the fourth quarter of 2018, whereas earnings rose slightly for the full year 2018.
Yansab’s profits after calculating Zakat and Tax amounted to SAR 233.5 million ($62.25 million) by the end of Q4-18, down from SAR 777.9 million ($207.39 million) in the year-ago period, according to a statement to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).
The firm attributed the sharp profit drop to a decrease in average selling prices of its products, in addition to a fall in production and sales volume.
Revenues retreated 25% to SAR 1.61 billion from October to December 2018, compared to SAR 2.17 billion in the same three months in 2017.
Quarter-on-quarter, the company’s profits slumped 68%, from SAR 729 million.
At the level of annual results, Yansab’s profits after calculating Zakat and Tax levelled up 1.5%, reaching SAR 2.41 billion, from SAR 2.37 billion in 2017.
The slight rise in annual results was attributed to a growth in the average of selling prices, whereas non-operating expenses and financing costs tumbled.
Year-on-year, sales went up 5.6%, to SAR 7.62 billion, from SAR 7.22 billion.
Earnings per share (EPS) amounted to SAR 4.29, up from SAR 4.22 in 2017.
Yansab’s stock dropped 1.53% to close Thursday at SAR 64.30.
