Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances Corp’s (SPIMACO) on Thursday said that the board of directors had approved increasing SPIMACO Egypt's capital by 199% during the meeting held the previous day.

SPIMACO Egypt’s capital will rise to EGP 200 million from EGP 66.88 million, according to a statement to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) on Thursday.

Saudi SPIMACO owns 51.66% stake in Egypt’s unit.

The Saudi pharmaceuticals firm will inject EGP 68.77 million (SAR 14.6 million) in its subsidiary’s capital hike, and this amount will be self-financed.

If some partners do not take a role in the offering, Saudi SPIMACO may add a maximum amount of EGP 15.73 million (SAR 3.3 million) which will raise its stake to 59.9%.

SPIMACO Egypt's capital hike will be injected into financing expenses to build a plant and funding operating capital in line with its strategic plan to boost sales during the coming five years.

Earlier on Thursday, Saudi SPIMACO said that its net profits tumbled 44.1% to SAR 55.8 million in the first quarter of 2018, compared to SAR 99.95 million in the comparative period of 2017.