Dubai, UAE — Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) has posted a net profit of SAR 419.4 million ($111 million) for the first quarter of 2023, which marks an 81 percent decline from SAR 2.17 billion in the same quarter last year.
The company said in a statement that the net profit was impacted by lower EBITDA of SAR 2.18 billion (Q1 2022 SAR 4.40 billion) primarily due to a one-off utilities charge and higher raw material prices.
Argaam reported that the decline in profit was driven by lower average selling prices of all products except gold, higher cost of sales, and an increase in raw material costs as well as production operating costs.
Maaden also cited an increase in the general and administrative expenses, higher exploration and technical services expenses and higher cost of finance due to a rise in SAIBOR and LIBOR rates, Argaam reported.
Strong cash generation from operations of SAR 2.99 billion, which support further reduction in long-term borrowings and net debt of 2 percent and 5 percent respectively from December 2022, Maaden said.
On a sequential basis, net profit dropped 58.7 percent from SAR 1.01 billion in Q4 2022.