Riyadh – Mubasher: Middle East Healthcare Company (Saudi German Hospital) reported an 83% year-on-year decline in its profits for the first quarter of 2019.

Net profits after zakat and tax stood at SAR 14.59 million in Q1-19, compared to SAR 87.13 million in Q1-18, according to a filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) on Thursday.

The decrease in Q1-19 net profit was ascribed to renovations in some of the Saudi group’s hospitals, and an increase in salary cost due to the hiring of more talented caregivers and certain key management professionals to boost the operational efficiency.

In addition, Saudi German’s board recommended not to distribute cash dividends to shareholders for the full-year 2018 because the company needs to support the expansion projects and to renovate the hospital buildings.

The Saudi-based company is also working on upgrading the medical equipment, so these recommendations will be raised to the general assembly meeting for voting.

In 2018, the Saudi healthcare provider posted a 46.1% year-on-year profit decline, recording SAR 172.25 million.