JEDDAH: Saudi Cement reported a 5.9 percent increase in first-quarter net profit on Tuesday, beating analyst forecasts, as higher exports boosted its earnings.

The Kingdom's largest cement company by market value said in a bourse filing its net profit for the three months to March 31 was SR303 million ($80.8 million), compared to SR286 million in the corresponding period of 2014.

Seven analysts polled by Reuters, on average, forecast Saudi Cement to make a net profit of SR292.2 million for the quarter.

It attributed its net profit rise to higher overseas sales and higher profit from associated companies without elaborating.