Riyadh – Mubasher: Savola Group’s fourth-quarter net profits totalled SAR 44.7 million, down by 67.4% on a year-on-year (YoY) basis.

The decrease in Savola’s quarterly profit is attributed to lower gross profit due to slightly lower sales and margins. This came despite a higher share of profits from associates and a decline in operating expenses and net financing costs, according to a bourse statement on Wednesday.

Revenue for the October-December period of 2020 inched down by 0.9% annually to stand at SAR 5.18 billion.

During 2020, the group posted SAR 910.8 million in net earnings, compared with SAR 475.6 million in 2019, an increase of 91.5%.

In a seperate filing, the company said its board recommended a cash dividend distribution of SAR 400.5 million to shareholders for 2020, equivalent to SAR 0.75 per share.