Saudi- Almarai's net profit jumps 14.72 in Q4

(MENAFN- Arab News) DUBAI: Almarai the Gulf's largest dairy company reported a 14.7 percent increase in fourth-quarter net profit on Sunday in line with analyst forecasts as sales during the quarter accelerated.Almarai made a profit of SR428 million ($114 million) in the three months to Dec. 31 up from SR373.3 million in the year-earlier period according to a statement to Riyadh's bourse.Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast on average that Almarai would make a quarterly profit of SR427.7 million.The firm said fourth-quarter sales rose 10.7 percent as a result of continuous growth in the poultry dairy and juices segment which offset a decline in its bakery business.Almarai last month proposed a cash dividend of SR1 per share for 2014 identical to that paid out for 2013 according to Thomson Reuters data.