The company said in a statement on the Saudi stock market website, Tadawul, that revenues in the first quarter rose to 18.2 billion riyals, a growth of 7.5 percent, compared to about 16.9 billion riyals in the same period of 2022.
On a quarterly basis, the company’s net profit in the first three months of 2023 increased by 12.8 percent, compared to 2.7 billion riyals in the last quarter of last year, while revenues increased by 6.7 percent during the same period.
In a separate statement to Tadawul, STC said that cash dividends will be distributed to shareholders for the first quarter of 2023, at 0.4 riyals per share.
The Saudi Telecom Company (STC) was established in 1998 and is listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange, and the Saudi Sovereign Fund owns 64 percent of it. It invests in telecom companies in other countries, including Bahrain and Kuwait, according to company data on the Saudi Stock Exchange website.
STC said that the increase in revenues and decrease in expenses contributed to the increase in net profit during the first quarter.
According to the statement, the reason for the increase in net profit during the first quarter of the year 2023 by 74 million riyals, compared to the same quarter of the previous year, is mainly due to the following reasons:
- Revenues increased by 1.26 billion riyals, which was offset by an increase in revenue costs by 1.05 billion riyals, which led to an increase in gross profit by 204 million riyals.
- A decrease in total other expenses by 186 million riyals, mainly due to an increase in financing income by 250 million riyals.
On the other hand, operating expenses increased by 297 million riyals, mainly due to the company’s strategic investments aimed at growth and expansion in new business areas, which led to an increase in general and administrative expenses by 244 million riyals, and depreciation and amortization expenses by 137 million riyals, which was offset by a decrease In selling and marketing expenses of 83 million riyals, according to the company’s statement.
Meanwhile, profit before depreciation, amortization, interest, zakat and taxes (EBITDA) for the first quarter amounted to 6.3 billion riyals, compared to 6.3 billion riyals for the same quarter of the previous year, an increase of 0.68 percent.
The total number of non-dividend treasury shares allocated to the employee incentive shares program amounted to 17,821,798 shares until the end of the first quarter of 2023, and accordingly, the basic earnings per share were calculated based on the weighted average shares of 4,982,178 shares (in thousands) for the first quarter of 2023.
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