Ma’aden Annual Profits Fall to SAR 1.6 Billion, Drop 12.5% in 4th Quarter

 A metal factory affiliated with Ma’aden (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A metal factory affiliated with Ma’aden (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Ma’aden Annual Profits Fall to SAR 1.6 Billion, Drop 12.5% in 4th Quarter

 A metal factory affiliated with Ma’aden (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A metal factory affiliated with Ma’aden (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) recorded a decrease in its net profits during 2023 by about 83.07 percent, mainly as a result of decline in sales on the back of lower commodity market prices of all products except gold.

In a disclosure to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), the company said that its net profit after zakat and tax dropped to SAR 1.58 billion, compared to SAR 9.32 billion in 2022.

The company attributed the reason for the decrease in net profit due to the decline in sales as a result of lower prices of commodity for all products except gold.

The company added that net profit was also impacted by higher finance cost due to increased borrowing rates and lower share of profit from joint ventures on the back of lower commodity market prices. This was partially offset by lower raw material prices, higher income from time deposit and lower income taxes and zakat.

Moreover, sales during the current year decreased by SAR 11 billion (27%) compared to last year, which is mainly due to lower commodity prices for all products except gold. This decrease in sales was partially offset by higher sales volumes of ammonia phosphate fertilizer, alumina and gold, Ma’aden reported.

It noted that sales amounted to about SAR 29.27 billion, compared to SAR 40.28 billion in 2022.



Iran Lawmakers Move to Sack Country’s Economy Minister as Rial Plunges 

A currency dealer counts Iranian rials as the value of the rial drops, in Tehran, Iran, February 9, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A currency dealer counts Iranian rials as the value of the rial drops, in Tehran, Iran, February 9, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran Lawmakers Move to Sack Country’s Economy Minister as Rial Plunges 

A currency dealer counts Iranian rials as the value of the rial drops, in Tehran, Iran, February 9, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A currency dealer counts Iranian rials as the value of the rial drops, in Tehran, Iran, February 9, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran’s parliament on Wednesday received a motion from lawmakers seeking to dismiss Economy Minister Abdolnaser Hemmati amid a sharp decline in the national currency, the rial.

Under Iranian law, Hemmati must appear before the legislature within 10 days to defend his record in a session that could result in his removal.

Ahmad Naderi, a Tehran MP and member of the parliament’s presiding board, said 91 lawmakers had signed the motion.

The move follows closed-door talks between President Masoud Pezeshkian and Hemmati with MPs over the plunging rial, which has lost nearly half its value since Pezeshkian took office in July.

On the black market, the rial is now trading at more than 900,000 to the US dollar, compared with less than 600,000 in mid-2024.

The slide has accelerated since the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, a longtime Iranian ally, on December 8.

Decades of US-led sanctions have battered Iran’s economy, with inflation worsening since Washington pulled out of a landmark 2015 nuclear deal in 2018.

US President Donald Trump, who returned to the White House in January, has revived his policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran, further tightening restrictions on the country.

Pezeshkian has vowed to seek a return to the nuclear accord and the lifting of sanctions, but diplomatic efforts have so far to make any headway.

In April 2023, lawmakers dismissed the industry minister Reza Fatemi Amin over soaring car prices.