Saudi Arabia’s Marafiq reports a 39% y-o-y drop in net income for 2Q: Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF)-backed utility firm Marafiq recorded a 39.1% y-o-y fall in net income in 2Q 2023 to SAR 159.3 mn on the back of an uptick in the company’s financing costs and a decrease in operating revenues, it noted in a Tadawul filing on Thursday. Marafiq’s revenues dropped 3.85% y-o-y in the three months ending on 30 June to SAR 1.59 bn.

Marafiq’s 1H performance took a hit: The Saudi utility reported a 34.2% fall in its bottom line for 1H 2023 to SAR 266 mn. Its revenues were down 1.69 percentage points to SAR 3.06 bn. The company attributed the losses in its net income to an increase in borrowing costs and a downtick in its sales despite a decrease in its zakat and tax provisions.

But the company saw a top and bottom line rise compared to 1Q: The company reported a 49.35% q-o-q rise in its net income to SAR 159 mn, attributable to an increase in its operating revenues and a decrease in the zakat and tax provisions. Marafiq’s revenues were up 8.05% q-o-q to SAR 1.59 bn.

About Marafiq: Marafiq is the power and water utility company for the Saudi cities of Jubail and Yanbu. It has core businesses in the seawater cooling, desalination, and waste treatment and management sectors. As of 2022, the company’s daily desalination capacity stood at 1.3 mn cubic meters.

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