Maaden made a net profit of SR62.5 million ($16.7 million) in the three months to end-June, compared to SR31.2 million in the same period a year earlier, it said in a bourse statement.

Analysts surveyed by Reuters expected the firm to post, on average, net profit of SR44.98 million for the second quarter.

“The reason for the increase in second-quarter profits, and the first six months of 2011 is the rise of average gold prices and sale volumes,” the firm said in the statement.

Operational profit for the second-quarter rose by 84 percent to SR72.3 million, it said.

The state-controlled minerals firm — has annual gold production is around 140,000-150,000 ounces per year — plans to to more than double production to 400,000 ounces per year by 2015, a senior executive said in May.

Gold rose for a 10th consecutive trading day on Friday, matching a record winning streak set four decades ago as investors sought safe-havens amid a lack of progress in US debt talks.