Riyadh - Mubasher: National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) recorded net profits worth SAR 532.82 million in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, marking a 17.63% year-on-year (YoY) hike from SAR 452.93 million.
Bahri attributed the annual surge in net profit to margin expansion that offset lower revenues in its oil transport business, in addition to ongoing resilience of the chemicals and dry bulk shipping segments amid prevailing market headwinds.
The company further noted that the higher profits in Q1-25 resulted from a turnaround to profitability of its integrated logistics business, besides additional earnings from its new desalination barges and increased contributions from associated companies.
Meanwhile, the revenues dropped by 6.33% YoY to SAR 2.16 billion as of 31 March 2025 from SAR 2.31 billion, according to the financial results.
The decline in revenue was primarily driven by reduced contributions from the oil and chemicals business units (BUs), partially offset by growth in the integrated logistics, dry bulk, and marine services BUs.
The earnings per share (EPS) hit SAR 0.72 in the first three months (3M) of 2025, reflecting an annual growth of 18% from SAR 0.61 in the same period a year ago.
On a quarterly basis, the Q1-25 net profits rose by 12.34% from SAR 474.26 million in Q1-24, while the revenues declined by 2.24% from SAR 2.21 billion.
The CEO of Bahri, Ahmed Ali Al Subaey, said: "Our Q1 results highlight the resilience of Bahri’s diversified business portfolio, as we achieved strong earnings growth despite challenging market conditions."
Al Subaey noted: “Furthermore, we are scaling up our new desalination business in the Kingdom, and expanded our global presence with the opening of our Singapore office, bringing us closer to our Asia-Pacific customers.”
The CEO added: “During Q1, we had a net addition of four modern vessels to our operating fleet, while three other vessels were added soon after quarter-end, bringing our fleet to the 100-vessel mark.”
Al Subaey concluded: "We are firmly focused on delivering value-accretive growth for our shareholders while playing a central role in transforming the Kingdom’s shipping and logistics sector in support of Vision 2030."
In the January-December 2024 period, Bahri generated 34.45% higher net profits at SAR 2.16 billion than SAR 1.61 billion in 2023.
