Full year net profit tops SAR 1.6 billion despite pandemic-induced uncertainty and challenges
Bahri, a global leader in logistics and transportation, announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2020. The company reported a whopping increase of 153 percent in annual net profit from SAR 621 million in 2019 to SAR 1.6 billion in a year marred by the COVID-19 pandemic. Revenue rose by 28 percent to SAR 8.4 billion, as compared to SAR 6.6 billion recorded for the previous year.
The remarkable growth in earnings is attributable to the strong performance of Bahri’s business units despite the challenges of the year. The company’s annual gross profit came in at SAR 2.1 billion, up 49 percent from SAR 1.4 billion in 2019, while operating profit went up percent from SAR 1.2 billion to SAR 1.9 billion. Total shareholders’ equity stood at SAR 10 billion and profit per share at SAR 3.99.
Commenting on the results, Abdullah Aldubaikhi, CEO of Bahri, said: “We are pleased to report better than expected financial results for the year 2020. Undeterred by the COVID-19 pandemic, Bahri continued to run its operations effectively, leveraging the power of its resilient business model and technology, and pushed on with its diversification plans and capacity-building programs. It is our perseverance and unyielding commitment to offering excellent and uninterrupted service to our customers around the world —even in the face of uncertainties and crises— that helped us navigate challenges and drive growth in annual revenues and profitability.”
“However, the company’s profitability came under tremendous pressure in the fourth quarter from the significant decline in time charter equivalent (TCE) prices as compared to the previous quarters. We remain determined to build on last year’s successes and learnings and capitalize on new and emerging opportunities in the market to meet our objectives in 2021,” Aldubaikhi added.
For the fourth quarter of 2020, Bahri reported a revenue decline of 35 percent to SAR 1.3 billion, as compared to SAR 1.9 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2019. Net profit for the last quarter of 2020 came in at SAR 77.5 million, down 69 percent from SAR 249 million registered during the same period a year ago.
