Positive results for Southern Province Cement

Southern Province Cement Co, Saudi Arabia's second-largest cement producer by market value, posted a +19.5% rise in second-quarter net profit, according to a company statement.

Southern Province, which began operating a third plant in February, made profit of SAR 465 million (US$ 124 million) in the six months to the end of June, up + 32.5% from a year earlier, the statement added.

The company said that it planned to offer shareholders a dividend of SAR 3 (US$ 0.80) per share from a total of SAR 420 million (US$ 112 million) for the first half of 2008.

The volume of Southern Province's sales rose +23.2 % to 2.92 million tonnes in the first half of this year the company statement said.

It added demand for cement is escalating in top global oil exporter Saudi Arabia, where the economy is thriving on a more than seven-fold surge in oil prices since 2002.