The financial statements of the Saudi Almarai Company showed a decrease in the company's profits in the first half of this year by 15.4% year on year.

According to the company's results for the Saudi market (Tadawul), today, Sunday, the profits for the period amounted to 867.9 million riyals, compared to the profits of the first half of 2020 of 1.02 billion riyals.< /p>

The profits for the second quarter of this year amounted to about 482 million riyals, compared to 643.9 million riyals for the same period in 2020, a decrease of 25%.

The company said that the reason for the decrease in net income attributable to the company's shareholders during the comparison periods is mainly due to several reasons, including revenues.

The company explained that it faced a challenge this quarter due to the impact of the base year, purchases related to the Corona pandemic (Covid-19), and the change in the value-added tax rate.

As a result, revenue declined 1.9% year-over-year primarily in the food, poultry and bakery segment.

It showed that the impact of the base year was expressed in the mixing channels, where the food service channel recorded more than 50% of profits driven by the opening of hotels and restaurants, but the retail channel recorded A double digit decrease due to a single purchase observed in the second quarter of 2020.

This decline was offset by excellent performance in Egypt, Jordan and overseas agricultural operations.