Arabian Cement writes off SAR 15 mln investment losses

Arabian Cement Co. (ACC) said it wrote off SAR 15 million in losses for its Jordan-based affiliate Ready Mix Concrete and Construction Supplies (RMCC) in first quarter of this year, according to its detailed financial statement.

The losses cannot be written back or reversed, it added.

The company owns a 36.67 percent stake in RMCC at a total value of SAR 80.6 million.

In 2009, ACC had taken a SAR 50 million goodwill impairment charge to account for the steep decline in RMCC’s net earnings and sales.

The table below illustrates RMCC financials since it was acquired by Arabian Cement.

Excluding these non-recurring losses, Arabian Cement's net earnings in Q1 would have risen by 26 percent year-on-year to SAR 210 million.

On the other hand, Qatrana Cement Co., which is 86.7 percent owned by Arabian Cement, reported record-high interim results for first quarter of 2015. It generated SAR 32.2 million net earnings, or 16 percent of ACC’s total profit.