A positive Q4 for Jarir:Jarir Marketing (Jarir Bookstore), one of the Kingdom’s top retail chains, reported a 2% y-o-y rise in net income in the fourth quarter of 2023 to SAR 273.2 mn, Argaam reported yesterday, citing interim financial results. Its revenues jumped by 8.7% y-o-y during the quarter to SAR 2.8 bn. The financial results did not include details on what drove the growth during the last quarter of the year.

A good year too: Jarir’s net income during the full year marginally grew by 0.3% y-o-y to SAR 973 mn, while revenues were up 12.8% y-o-y during the same period to SAR 10.6 bn, its interim financial results to Tadawul showed yesterday.

Main drivers: It said the rise in revenues last year came on the back of an increase in sales of several departments, including smartphones, video games and computers. However, gross profit slightly dipped by 0.9% y-o-y last year due to a decline in profit margins for several departments, including smartphones and a change in sales mix.

It was the year of record sales: Jarir’s revenues last year surpassed the SAR 10 bn mark for the first time in its history, its Chairman Muhammad Alagil told Al Arabiya in an interview (watch, runtime: 6:41).

Jarir’s Egypt subsidiary took a slight hit on the back of the EGP devaluation: Jarir said that the difference between its comprehensive income and net income during 2023 includes exchange losses estimated at SAR 12 mn for its Egyptian subsidiary due to the devaluation of the EGP. “It’s an accounting loss,” Alagil clarified, saying that the company’s activity in Egypt is limited to leased buildings for a one-time opening of four or five branches.

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