DUBAI: Saudi Arabia's Almarai Co. said on Sunday its first-quarter profit rose 7.3

percent, missing analysts' estimates despite higher sales and a one-off gain from an acquisition.

Almarai made a net profit of SR273.6 million ($73 million) in the three months to March 31, up from SR255.1 million a year earlier, it said in a bourse statement.

Analysts on average forecast Almarai would make a quarterly profit of SR284.9 million.

The company had sales worth SR2.72 billion in the first quarter, up 12.3 percent from a year earlier.