By: Thabet Shehata

Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi building and construction sector witnessed a decrease in its net profits in the second quarter of 2016.

Net profits fell 7.4% year-on-year to SAR 347.85 million ($92.76 million) in Q2-16 from SAR 375.73 million ($100.2 million).

The sector companies’ net profits decreased 12.65% to SAR 612.67 million in the first six months of 2016 from SAR 701.37 million in the year-ago period.

Operating profits were down 5.7% to SAR 431.83 million in Q2-16 from SAR 458 million in the same period of the previous year, while it slipped 2.4% to SAR 886.8 million in H1-16.

Middle East Specialized Cables (MESC) posted the highest net profits rising 22% to SAR 76.85 million in Q2-16 against SAR 10.4 million losses in Q2-15.

Al Yamamah Steel Industries’ net profits grew 11.9% to SAR 156.9 million in Q2-16 from SAR 140.2 million in Q2-15.

All the sectors’ firms posted profits except for Abdullah Abdul Mohsen Al Khodari Sons, Mohammad Al Mojil Group and Saudi Cable Co. which achieved net losses of SAR 43.34 million, SAR 42 million and SAR 18.2 million, respectively.

Translated by: Sara Ghali