Saudi Arabia’s Arabian Drilling reported third-quarter net profit of 31.4 million riyals, after losses both a year earlier and in the preceding quarter. Quarterly revenue declined annually but rose from the second quarter. The company cited rig movement efficiencies and lower expenses for the recovery, while nine-month net profit fell 90.6 per cent to 6.9 million riyals.
Saudi drilling company Arabian Drilling returned to net profit in the third quarter, earning 31.4 million riyals. It had lost 9.4 million riyals in the same quarter a year earlier and 31.5 million riyals in the second quarter. The company attributed the quarterly recovery to efficient rig mobilization, cost measures and lower finance and income tax expenses.[1], [2]
Third-quarter revenue fell 3 per cent annually to 810.7 million riyals, but exceeded the second quarter’s 764.7 million riyals by 6 per cent. Gross profit rose from 100.9 million to 133.2 million riyals compared with the year-earlier quarter. Operating profit increased from 55.3 million to 82.2 million riyals. Quarterly net earnings per share reached 0.35 riyals.[1]
For the first nine months, net profit fell from 73.3 million to 6.9 million riyals, a decline of 90.6 per cent. Revenue dropped 8.1 per cent to 2,397 million riyals. The company linked the revenue decline to temporary suspensions of some offshore drilling operations and the absence of long-haul rig movements. Nine-month earnings per share fell from 0.82 to 0.08 riyals. Shareholders’ equity stood at 5.76 billion riyals at September-end, against 5.88 billion riyals a year earlier.[1]
