THE management board of Saudi Arabian Fertiliser Company (Safco) has decided to recommend a 25 per cent capital increase to 2.5 billion Saudi riyals ($667 million) from 2.0 billion riyals ($533 million).

The capital increase will be carried via the issue of 500 million new shares in the form of a one-for-four bonus issue. Safco will use retained profits to finance the capital hike.
Safco more than doubled fourth-quarter profit on higher output and prices, setting the stage scene for the earnings of affiliate Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic).
Safco is 42 per cent owned by Sabic. Safco expanded capacity at a project in the second quarter, boosting sales.
It made a profit of 741.5 million riyals ($197.7 million) in the fourth quarter, a 135.7 per cent increase from the year-earlier period, it said.
Analysts’ forecasts for Safco’s fourth-quarter profit ranged from 706 million riyals to 833 million riyals, according to a Reuters survey.
“The increase in profit is due to the start of the Safco 4 expansion project in the second quarter of 2007, which has hiked sales by 52 per cent, as well as a rise in the prices of core products,” Safco says.
For the full-year, net profit rose 92 percent to a record 2.21 billion riyals.
Earnings per share rose to 11.04 riyals for 2007 compared with 5.76 riyals in 2006.