RIYADH: The Saudi Research & Marketing Group’s (SRMG) operating profit for the first half of 2008 rose by 11 percent to SR148.5 million compared to SR134.2 million during the same period last year, an official statement by the company said. Preliminary financial results showed the group’s net profit declined by 49 percent to SR145.7 million in the first half of 2008 from SR287.4 million during the same period in 2007, the statement said. The profitability of the company’s shares reached SR1.8 per share against SR3.6 during the same period last year.
Speaking about second quarter results, the company said it had made a net profit of SR87.7 million compared to SR231.5 million during the same period last year.
The company attributed the fall in profit this year to the exceptional profit of SR161.3 million it gained during the second quarter of 2007 from selling 30 percent of its subsidiary Saudi Printing & Packaging Company in an initial public offering.
The financial results also show that SRMG’s revenues grew by 10 percent to reach SR597.9 million in the first half of 2008 compared to SR545.9 million during the same period in 2007. “It goes well with the group’s strategy that aims at increasing revenues and net profit,” the statement said, adding that the increase in revenues continued into the third quarter of 2008. The company made a revenue of SR171.9 million from continuous operations in the first half of 2008 compared to SR163.3 million during the same period last year, registering a five percent rise.
The company said it would go ahead with its development plan aimed at diversification of revenue sources and countering challenges facing the media and publishing industry. These challenges affected the group’s first quarter profit but was able to accommodate that in the second quarter of 2008, thus preserving the level of total profit in the second half of 2008 compared to the second half profit of 2007.