The National Industrialization Co. (Tasnee) reported its 2019 financial results on Tuesday. Compared with a net profit of SR1.20 billion in 2018, the report recorded a net loss of 1.58 billion Saudi riyals ($421.2 million). On flat sales of SR3.019 billion, operating profit slumped 70 percent to SR313.1 million.
Besides SR411 million of impairment on current assets and SR219 million of provision for financial support related to an acrylics complex, the company also attributed the loss to SR1.45 billion of an adjusted loss on the sale of the titanium dioxide producer Cristal to Tronox.
The financial results were also hurt by reduced share of profit from investments in associates and joint ventures and lower average selling prices for most of the products.
Tasnee said the coronavirus pandemic is negatively impacting prices of oil and commodities and causing major disruptions to the global economic activity. On the overall business, the impact assessment of coronavirus cannot be reasonably predicted and the situation remains highly uncertain.
