Special Report - (Namazone):

The financial statements of a number of Saudi companies revealed pleasant surprises with their financial results for the year 2019, with net profits that exceeded the expectations of analysts, and the results of other companies came out, without expectations.

> 30 companies announced their annual results, since the beginning of the statutory deadline, at the beginning of last January, out of a total of about 170 companies, whose fiscal year ends at the end of December of each year.

The deadline for companies listed in the Saudi market to disclose their financial results for the year 2019 extends for 3 months since the end of the period, which ends at the end of next March.

A statistic prepared by Namazon revealed that the profits of 30 companies that announced their financial results for 2019 decreased by 20.3% compared to 2018.

The combined profits of the announced companies amounted to about 55.37 billion riyals, in the past year, compared to 69.47 billion riyals, the profits achieved for these companies in the previous year.

And all the announced companies announced net profits for the year 2019, with the exception of Saudi Maaden and Kayan, which converted to losses, against net profits in 2018.

Al-Ahly in the lead

The National Commercial Bank was able to snatch the top of the companies announced in terms of the highest profits in 2019, with a net profit of 11.4 billion riyals, compared to 9.6 billion riyals for the year 2018, an increase of About 19%.

Saudi Telecom Company came in second place with net profit of 10.76 billion riyals, compared to 10.78 billion riyals for the year 2018, with a marginal decline of 0.23%.

The company explained that the decline in net profits in 2019 is due to the high consumption and amortization expenses, as a result of the company continues to invest in the infrastructure of the fifth generation technology and optical fibers

SABIC and the biggest surprises

The results of the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) were an unpleasant surprise, after net profits fell more than the expectations of most analysts, to give up the lead position.