Saudi Paper Manufacturing Company’s Profits Seesaw

The Saudi Paper Manufacturing Company (SPM) of the SPG Group recently announced a significant decline in net profits in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the same quarter of 2020.

The Saudi Stock Exchange Tadawul showed a decline in the company’s net profit after zakat and tax to about 150,000 riyals, compared to 3.98 million riyals in the third quarter of last year.

The Dammam-based company attributed the decline in net profits to the high cost of sales due to the rise in the prices of paper and related raw materials in the global market. Another factor underlined was the problem caused by the pandemic which impacted global shipping and logistics in a major way. Imports were badly affected. There was delay in the arrival of raw materials resulting in shortage and this in turn forced buyers to purchase resources from nearby places at prohibitive costs to avoid any interruption in their operational processes.

On a quarterly basis, the company’s profits fell about 99%, compared to the profits of the previous quarter, which amounted to 15.14 million riyals.

In contrast, the company’s profits in the first nine months of 2021 jumped to 29.35 million riyals, compared to 8.86 million riyals for the same period last year, recording an increase of 231.26%.