Saudi Arabian retailer Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co. swung to a second quarter net profit, as revenues surged following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in the kingdom. 

The company, which operates more than 1,000 stores across the country, said on Thursday it posted a net profit of 45.7 million riyals ($12.8 million) in the three months through June, compared with a loss of 535.6 million riyals a year earlier. 

Sales/revenues jumped 201 percent to 1.7 billion riyals during the quarter, from 564.9 million in the same period of 2020. Gross profit reached 332.6 million riyals, compared with a loss of 242.7 million riyals a year ago. 

“The increase is attributed to the return to pre-pandemic operations following the lifting of restrictions and despite ongoing capacity limitations in shopping malls,” the company told the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul). 

The company had lost 1.2 billion riyals in revenue in Q1-FY2021 due to continued movement restrictions related to the pandemic. 

Saudi Arabia started easing its precautionary measures in May last year after a strict lockdown in March that saw borders closed to foreign visitors. 

(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Daniel Luiz) 

Cleofe.maceda@refinitiv.com 

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