Aljazira Capital releases Q3 estimates, Alinma to rise nearly 22%

Aljazira Capital, the investment arm of Bank Aljazira, on Sunday released its third-quarter (Q3) earnings estimates for Saudi-listed firms under its coverage.

Noting that in Q3, oil prices continued to recover, the brokerage firm expects companies under its coverage to post cumulative earnings of SAR 17.1 billion, recording a jump of 12 percent year-on-year (YoY).

“Petrochemical sector is expected to post a healthy jump of 18.1 percent, whereas the Shariah compliant banks are expected to show a jump of 17.3 percent. Cement sector is expected to continue its losses on the back of weak demand fundamentals,” it noted in the report.

Among petrochemical companies, the brokerage expects SABIC’s earnings to decline by 7.5 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to SAR 6.2 billion on lower petrochemical products spreads. However, SABIC’s metal and fertilizers business are expected to witness better QoQ performance due to higher prices level and higher expected sales volumes.

For Shariah-compliant banks, the report expects Alinma to post the strongest growth of 21.6 percent YoY, followed by Albilad at 19.4 percent YoY and Al Rajhi at 16 percent YoY.

In the telecom sector, STC is the only company expected to post profits, whereas Zain and Mobily will continue to post net losses, the report said.

Meanwhile, healthcare companies are expected to report a marginally better set of Q3 results, after posting disappointing earnings in Q2 2018.