Two Saudi cement companies – Yanbu Cement and Qassim Cement – netted considerable gains in the second quarter, according to their statements posted on the Tadawul website. Yanbu Cement Company's net profit in the second quarter grew 32.7 percent to SR150 million compared to SR113 million for the same period in 2010 on strong demand. Net profit rose 48.5 percent to SR101 million in the first quarter of 2011. It further said that gross profit during the second quarter is SR159 million compared to SR122 million for the corresponding quarter of the previous year, an increase of 30 percent. Operating profit during the second quarter hit SR150 million compared to SR116 million of the previous year, an increase of 29 percent. Net profit during the six months reached SR251 million compared to SR237 million in the previous year, an increase of 5.9 percent. Earnings per share for the six months grew SR2.39 compared to SR2.25 of the previous year. Moreover, gross profit for six months reached SR269 million compared to SR250 million of the previous year, an increase of 7.6 percent. Operating profit for six months grew to SR254 million as against SR238 million in the previous year, an increase of 6.7 percent. Qassim Cement Company also posted a 6.55 percent increase in consolidated net profit of SR144,650,931 for the second quarter of 2011 compared to SR135,762,374 for the same quarter of previous year, the company said. However, it decreased 1.72 percent against the net profit of SR147,176,466 during the previous first quarter of the current year 2011. Higher sales and improved operating performance of the subsidiary company led to the rise in net profit over the same period last year, it said. The decrease in the second quarter's net profit compared to the first quarter is attributable to periodic maintenance that occurred during the second quarter which led to increase in cost and decline in the net profit, it said. The consolidated gross profit during the second quarter is SR154,911,440 compared to SR149,523,243 for the corresponding period last year, which showed an increase of 3.6 percent. Consolidated operating profit during the second quarter rose 3.21 percent to SR145,599,473 compared to SR141,065,833 for the corresponding quarter last year. Consolidated net profit in six months was posted at SR291,827,397 compared to SR280,989,122 for the same period of the previous year, which showed an increase of 3.86 percent.
