Saudi's Almarai Q2 net profit up 18.6 pct, beats estimates

Saudi Arabia's Almarai, the Gulf's largest dairy company, reported an 18.6 percent increase in second-quarter net profit on Sunday, beating analysts' forecasts.

Almarai made a profit of 628.8 million riyals ($167.7 million) in the three months to June 30, up from 530.4 million riyals in the year-earlier period, according to a bourse statement.Four analysts polled by Reuters had forecast on average that Almarai would make a quarterly profit of 530.3 million riyals.