Arab Sea enjoys strong financial position, inks several deals in Q1 2020: CEO

Arab Sea Information Systems Co. (Arab Sea) enjoys a strong financial position that enables the company to absorb the impact of the economic slowdown, CEO Haitham Mohammed Asheibani told Argaam in an exclusive interview.

The company’s financial indicators remain sound to withstand the current challenges since there are no liabilities or bank loans.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a decline in spending and an increase in expenses for the private sector, especially in the systems segment, which affected Arab Sea’s revenues as of mid-February, the CEO said.

While sales of some products declined, demand has surged for products such as the cloud system which increased 200% during the first quarter of 2020 compared to 20-30% rise in the same period of 2019.

Asheibani noted that it is currently difficult to determine the estimated financial impact of the government’s preventative measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.

In Q1 2020, the Saudi-based company signed several contracts with exclusive agents to sell products in India, Mauritania, Yemen, Egypt, and Morocco.

The CEO said that Arab Sea’s revenues usually see an increase in Q4 of each year due to the renewal of maintenance, systems, and updates contracts, in addition to adding new customers.

According to data compiled by Argaam, Arab Sea suffered losses of SAR 1.7 million in Q1 2020, versus net profits of SAR 128,000 in Q1 2019.