SISCO’s container business ‘under pressure’ in Q2, to unveil growth strategy in Q3: CEO

SISCO's CEO, Mohammed Al-Mudarres

Saudi Industrial Services Co.’s (SISCO) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mohammed Al-Mudarres said the container business came under pressure across the Kingdom in the second quarter of 2021 despite the positive growth of the ports and terminal segment.

Commenting on the second quarter results, Al-Mudarres said this led to a decrease in the total number of containers exported and imported compared to the previous quarter and last year.

The strong performance of the ports segment was supported by continued growth in logistics parks, as well as a gradual improvement in sales of the water solutions segment, the CEO indicated.

He pointed out that the port and terminal segment continued to increase its market share during H1 2021 in Jeddah Islamic Port in terms of the number of containers exported and imported. On the other hand, the shipping business achieved a 12% increase in the total number of containers on an annual basis.

The review of the use of proceeds from the Red Sea Gateway Terminal deal will be completed soon, Al-Mudarres said, adding that more details and the company's growth strategy will be announced during Q3 2021.

Saudi Industrial Services Co. (SISCO) reported a net profit after Zakat and tax of SAR 54.7 million for H1 2021, a decline of 34% from SAR 83.1 million in the year-ago period. Q2 net profit stood at SAR 22.5 million.