SAIC’s investment unit mulls qualitative opportunities in key sectors: CEO

Abdullah Al-Juraish, CEO of Saudi Advanced Industries Co. (SAIC)

Saudi Advanced Industries Co. (SAIC) currently studies promising and qualitative opportunities in vital sectors, such as healthcare, education, through its subsidiary, United Permanent Growth Investment Co., CEO Abdullah Al-Juraish told Argaam.

He expects the relevant financial impact to show in Q3 2023.

The company reported its best quarterly results since inception in Q2 2023, backed by the efforts made since early 2023 to rebalance investments in the Kingdom’s most vital sector in line with Vision 2030. SAIC also adopts a professional business model that allows it to maintain leadership, post outstanding results and maximize investments to serve shareholders’ interests.

The new strategy that targets growth companies and exiting from products firms contributed mainly to the second-quarter strong profit.

Moreover, SAIC’s share in earned dividends for the second quarter stood at SAR 6 million, as the company maintained payouts at last year’s level.

Al-Juraish added that associates’ earnings more than halved year-on-year (YoY). This was primarily due to increased feedstock prices and interest rates, expecting product prices to improve and policy rates to ease in the coming period.

Associates earlier accounted for 90% of SAIC’s revenues, compared to nearly 22% in Q2 2023. This is to create other revenue streams, provide better balance and allow for risk distribution for SAIC, he explained.

SAIC reported a 25% leap in H1 2023 net profit to SAR 72.6 million from SAR 58.3 million in the prior-year period. The three-month net profit soared by almost 85% to SAR 50.5 million from SAR 27.3 million in Q2 2022, Argaam earlier reported.

The Tadawul-listed company recently finalized the paperwork required for establishing United Permanent Growth, a wholly-owned limited liability company based in Riyadh, to undertake its future investments.