Eastern Province Cement shrugs off pandemic with bumper dividend payout

Eastern Province Cement reported a rise in full-year profit as sales also grew. (Supplied)

• Cement sector benefits from mega projects
• Shares rise as company agrees dividend

DUBAI: Eastern Province Cement shareholders are set to receive an SR215 million ($57.2 million) dividend payout after full-year profits jumped by a fifth last year.
Sales edged 1.8 percent higher in 2020 to SR742 million compared to a year earlier, the Dammam-based company said in a Tadawul stock exchange filing on Sunday. Net profit rose 19.9 percent to SR217 million.
It said that higher sales and lower expenses helped to drive earnings higher.
Cement producers across the Kingdom are benefiting from rising demand from the construction sector where a number of mega-projects linked to the emerging tourism sector have started to take shape.
The shares rose 1.24 percent on Sunday.