Saudi Tadawul Group Holding, the owner of the kingdom’s bourse, has reported a 23.1% drop in profit to $97.8 million (SAR 367.4 million) in the first nine months of 2022, due to lower revenues and higher expenses, according to its financial results released Sunday.
The figure is compared to $127 million (SAR 477.2 million) recorded during the January-September period of last year.
The profit drop was due to a 6.5% decline in operating revenue to $225.9 million (SAR 849.2 million) in the nine-month period of 2022 compared to $241.7 million (SAR 908.5 million) in the same period of 2021.
Higher salaries and employee-related benefits further put a toll on profit during the nine-month period, leading to a 14.7% year-on-year rise in operating expenses to $123.7 million (SAR 465 million). Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 21.6% to $114.1 million (SAR 428.7 million) compared to $145.5 million (SAR 546.8 million) in the same period of 2021. In the third quarter of 2022, net profit went down 22.66% year-on-year to $23.7 million (SAR 89.1 million), dragged down by a 2.1% decline in operating revenue to $68.4 million (SAR 257.2 million) during the period.
Shares of Tadawul fell by 2.33% to reach $57.95 (SAR 217.80) as of 12:53 pm GST, giving it a market capitalization of $7 billion (SAR 26.1 billion).
In the May-July period of this year, the Saudi Tadawul Group reported a 24% decline in second-quarter net profit due to lower operating revenue and higher expenses.
