Saudi Arabia's Almarai, the Gulf's largest dairy company, said Sunday its third-quarter net profit fell 8.5% on higher selling and distribution costs and lower sales in Bahrain.
Net profit after Zakat and tax was 581.2 million riyals ($ 154.95 million), down from 635 million riyals a year earlier. Sales rose to 3.57 billion riyals from 3.32 billion a year earlier.
The company's earnings continued to decline for the third consecutive quarter. In the first nine months of this year, the company's sales fell 9% compared to the same period last year.
The biggest loser was the dairy and juice sector, where profits fell by more than 14% in the third quarter and 11% in the first nine months of this year.
Almarai attributed the decline to what it called "difficult market conditions in the juice sector."
Consumer producers and retailers in Saudi Arabia have been hit by lower consumer spending following the introduction of VAT, higher energy prices and a weak labor market.
Almarai said its sales in Bahrain fell due to the introduction of VAT earlier this year.
Qatar, along with other national export companies, has been affected by the loss of the Qatari market due to the blockade of Doha by Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Manama and Cairo, Reuters reported.