In a recent report, Al-Rajhi Capital has stated that Saudi Cement posted better-than-expected Q3 financial results, beating its as well as consensus estimates.
The company’s net profit grew marginally to SAR 232 million (+1.3% year-on-year).
Saudi Cement sold 1.64 million tons of cement in the Kingdom (-8.5% y/y), in line with AL-Rajhi’s expectations.
The Saudi cement sector is gradually recovering from the effects of labor crisis, with total local sales growing 5.4% y/y in September.
However, Saudi Cement is losing market share as its local sales declined 16.5% y/y in the first nine months of 2014, while the overall sector saw a decline of only 4.8% over the same period.
For now, the research firm is reiterating its ‘Neutral’ rating on Saudi Cement, with a price target of SAR 127.1 per share.