Albilad Capital issues Q4 forecasts; SABIC to jump 21%

Albilad Capital has issued earnings estimates for Q4 2017.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) is expected to post the biggest rise in net profit among petrochemical producers at 21 percent year-on-year (YoY) to SAR 5.5 billion in the fourth quarter.

Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Co. (SAFCO) will likely see its Q4 net earnings jumping 18 percent YoY to SAR 336 million. Advanced Petrochemical Co., however, is likely to record a 7 percent YoY decline in net profit to SAR 196 million.

Al Rajhi Bank is forecast to report SAR 2.3 billion earnings in Q4, rising 12 percent YoY.

Bank Aljazira is estimated to post the biggest hike in Q4 earnings among sector peers at 55 percent YoY to SAR 236 million.

“We believe the banking sector will witness a shift in operating conditions, which is likely to improve the sector's profitability margins,” Albilad Capital said.

Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) is seen reporting a net profit of SAR 2.3 billion in Q4 2017, up 8 percent YoY.

In the cement sector, all companies under coverage are projected to report lower profit, led by Saudi Cement with a fall of 46 percent YoY to SAR 100 million.

“We expect cement sales to fall below 12 million tons in Q4 2017, thus annual sales hit 47 million tons,” the brokerage firm added.

The healthcare sector is likely to witness higher demand in Q4, when compared to the previous quarter, due to the lack of religious occasions or long vacations in the fourth quarter.

Al Hammadi Company for Development and Dallah Healthcare are expected to outperform peers, with profit growth of 143 percent and 69 percent YoY, respectively.

Elsewhere, Abdullah Al Othaim Markets and Jarir Marketing Co. are forecast to post 13 percent rise YoY in Q4 net earnings each.

Home appliance retailer eXtra’s Q4 net profit is likely to more than double YoY to SAR 60 million.

The National Shipping Co. of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), however, will record a 60 percent drop in the fourth quarter net profit.