Saudi Arabia: National Gypsum Company has announced interim financial results for the period ending 30 June 2012. These show a net income for the second quarter of 2012 of US$1.76m compared to US$2.7m in the same period of 2011, a year-on-year drop of over a third. There was also a sharp drop compared to the first quarter of 2012, when the company had a net income of US$2.50m. National Gypsum's gross profit for the second quarter of 2012 came in at US$2.26m compared to US$3.39m for the same quarter of 2011, a near-30% fall.
Over the course of the six months to 30 June 2012, the company said that it made a net profit of US$4.26m, compared to US$5.6m in the six months to 30 June 2011. Its gross profit for the six months came in at US$4.65m compared to US$6.73m a year earlier, another drop of more than 30%.
National Cement said that the reason for the drop in its performance was increased competition.