SISCO H1 2019 profits boosted by ports sector, says CEO

The port sector has significantly contributed to Saudi Industrial Services Company’s (SISCO) positive results in the first half of 2019, Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Al-Mudarres told CNBC Arabia on Thursday. 

Al-Mudarres said that the Kingdom’s imports have increased recently, which reflects the improvement of local economy since the beginning of this year.

He also expected the momentum to continue in the second half of 2019, and in the coming years.

The company’s performance in terms of containers handling has also improved, Al-Mudarres added.

Commenting on the recent decision of Saudi Ports Authority to change the fees of containers inspection, SISCO CEO said that these fees have negatively impacted revenues of all companies including SISCO.

Nevertheless, he added, that reconsidering the decision and adjusting the fees in accordance to international ports had a positive impact on SISCO’s results.

Elsewhere, Al-Mudarres stated that the company is currently working on several expansion projects including ports, water and logistics services. He added that these projects are likely to be completed by end of 2019.

He also said that the final cost of the development of the northern part of Jeddah Islamic Port has not been disclosed yet, but expected to reach between SAR 2 billion to SAR 5 billion depending on design and equipment-related negotiations with the authorities.

The company posted SAR 38.2 million profit in first half 2019 compared to same period in 2018, while the second quarter’s profit surged 78 percent to SAR 21.3 million.