Riyadh – Mubasher: Aljazira Capital expected that Qassim Cement's profits would fall 27.1% year-on-year to SAR 298.6 million in 2017, with an earning per share (EPS) of SAR 3.33.

We expect the company to continue selling at a discount for the year and to reduce its dividend to 3.5 per share, the report said.

The investment company noted that the stock is trading at forward price-earnings ratio P/E and price-to-book value P/BV of 15.04 and 2.54x, respectively.

Aljazira Capital maintained its "Neutral" recommendation on the cement company, with a price target (PT) of SAR 51.1.

Qassim Cement's first quarter's results came with a 9.8% deviation from the research firm's estimates, where the selling price was expected to be around SAR 178.1 per ton in Q1-17 compared to SAR 218.3 in Q1-16.

The cost per ton is expected to be at SAR 95.5 per ton versus SAR 103 per ton in Q1-16, Aljazira Capital reported.

Qassim Cement’s profits retreated 40% to SAR 80.3 million in Q1-17 compared to SAR 133.6 million in the year-ago period.