JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s Savola Group expects third-quarter earnings to decline against last year despite posting a 13.6 percent rise in second-quarter net profit thanks to increased market share in the Kingdom’s retail sector.

The food company said in a bourse statement that net profit for the next quarter is expected to come in at SR370 million ($98.7 million), against the SR405.2 million it made in the three months to Sept. 30 last year. (Full Story)

The company also posted second-quarter earnings, with net profit beating its own expectations for the quarter and tallying with forecasts of the majority of analysts polled by Reuters.

Savola made a net profit of SR387.8 million for the three months to June 30, against SR341.3 million in the same period last year.

Four analysts polled by Reuters had forecast between SR383 million and SR395 million, while the company said its internal forecast was SR365 million.

Savola attributed the uplift from last year’s second quarter to its greater market share in the retail sector and “sustained growth in the edible oil segment,” a bourse statement said.

Savola also proposed a second-quarter dividend of SR0.5 per share, a separate bourse filing said.

This is higher than the SR0.3 it proposed for the same quarter of 2012.