Riyad Capital maintains Almarai’s “Neutral” recommendation

The Q3 2019 net profits of Almarai Co. came in-line with analysts’ expectations of SAR 579 million, Riyad Capital said in a research note.

“The higher alfalfa and rising employee costs resulted in a gross profit growth of only 3 percent year-on-year (YoY) with a gross margin of 40 percent compared to 42 percent last year,” the note said.

The brokerage firm maintained its “Neutral” recommendation without changing the target price of SAR 59 per share.