Sunday, Jan 22, 2012
(This story was originally published Saturday.)
--Profit drops 20% in fourth quarter as regional unrest hits hotels business
--Decreased performance from associates cited as well
--Prince Alwaleed recently purchased stake in social media company Twitter
By Ellen Knickmeyer
Of ZAWYA DOW JONES
RIYADH (Zawya Dow Jones)--Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding Co. (4280.SA), run by billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, said Saturday that net profit for the fourth quarter fell 20% to 187.8 million Saudi riyals ($50 million), compared with the same period in 2010.
Kingdom Holding, in a statement posted on the website of the Saudi stock exchange, cited the impact of Middle East unrest on hotel bookings, as well as an unspecified "decrease in performance from associates".
Full year net profit meanwhile rose 5.7% to SAR639.6 million, while earnings per share in the same period edged up to SAR0.17, from SAR0.16, the company said.
Income from its operations in the fourth quarter fell 36% from the same three month period in 2010, to SAR168.4 million. The company statement attributed the drop in revenue, and in costs and expenses, to a change in reporting methods.
Prince Alwaleed owned 95% of Kingdom Holding as of late 2011. He holds sizable stakes in companies including Citigroup Inc. (C), News Corp. (NWS), Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Time Warner Inc. (TWX). News Corp. owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of this newswire and The Wall Street Journal.
Last month Prince Alwaleed made a $300 million investment in Twitter Inc., expanding his media empire into social-media sites and giving him a stake in an online forum that was widely used by activists in this year's Arab uprisings.
Kingdom shares last traded Saturday 2% down at SAR9.95 in a broadly positive overall market.
-By Ellen Knickmeyer, Dow Jones Newswires, +971 55 1093359, ellen.knickmeyer@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
22-01-12 0401GMT
