JEDDAH, 25 October 2007 — The Saudi Research & Marketing Group (SRMG) has announced a 63 percent increase in its net profits for the past nine months. Profits were SR314.6 million ($83.89 million) compared to SR193.3 million during the same period in 2006, a company statement said.
“As a result of increase in profits, the profitability of SRMG shares also rose by 63 percent to reach SR3.9 per share against SR2.4 during the same period last year,” the statement said, adding that the profits were calculated on the basis of primary results.
SRMG made an exceptional profit of SR161.3 million from selling 30 percent of its subsidiary Saudi Printing & Packaging Company (SPPC) in an initial public offering earlier this year.
SPPC made SR396 million from the IPO. The group said it made a third quarter net profit of SR27.2 million ($7.25 million) in 2007 compared to SR41.6 million during the same period in 2006. Operational profit dropped by 17 percent to SR153.8 million compared to SR184.2 million during the same period last year.
The statement said the third quarter results of 2007 were as expected but the decline in profits was seen as a result of exceptional contracts received by the printing company last year. The company has won new contracts for printing this year and this will boost the overall results by the end of this year, the statement added.
SRMG Chairman Prince Faisal bin Salman has previously highlighted the group’s strong financial position and liquidity and said the earnings from the SPPC IPO would be used to strengthen the group’s leading position in the publishing industry. “Even without the IPO amount, SRMG’s financial position remains strong, enabling it to carry out its strategic plans and projects while ensuring a high level of quality in all its products,” the chairman said. SRMG can provide a good monetary supply through its operational activities, he added.
SPPC was the first printing company in the Middle East to launch an IPO. More than 1.3 million subscribers invested over SR540 million in the five-day offering.
