Amiantit profits reach US$ 4.1 million before Islamic taxation for the first half of 2006 Dammam, July 2006: Saudi Arabian Amiantit has announced that the results of its unaudited business for the first half of 2006 showed a net profit of US$ 4.1 million before deducting Islamic taxation, compared to a loss of US$ 4.4 million for the same period in 2005. Although Amiantit has dedicated an amount of US$ 3.7 million to support its financial position and to face certain risks that are anticipated for some of its international operations, the company's total sales amounted to US$ 373.3 million, that is an increase of 24% compared with sales for the same period in 2005. Commenting on the results for the first half of 2006, Amiantit President & CEO Eng. Fareed Al-Khalawi said: "The results are an obvious indication of the success of Amiantit's strategic moves to improve profit and performance. Starting in 2005, the company adopted policies aimed at increasing productivity, attaining ideal utilisation of operational capacity, and reducing overall expenses. These policies enabled Amiantit to reach equilibrium point in 2005 when net profits were approximately US$ 400,000 compared with losses of US$ 12 million in 2004. The profits of the first half of this year indicate that we heading in the right direction and support our confidence that Amiantit can further improve its results during the second half of 2006." Eng. Al-Khalawi went on the say that the financial statements for the first half have showed a remarkable improvement in financial indicators. Liquidity reached 1.16 compared with 0.95 for the same period of last year, the ratio between indebtedness and partners' rights reached 1.66, compared with 2.8 for the same period of the last year, and the profit margin increased to 18% compared with 16% for the same period of last year. In addition, management expenses were reduced by US$ 1.8 million. This was an important factor in improving operational profits, which increased from US$ 640,000 in the first half of 2005 to US$ 22.8 million for the same period of 2006. Eng. Al-Khalawi commented on the efforts made to limit the effects of losses by Amiantit's manufacturing facility in the USA. In the first half of 2006 the management of the factory succeeded in generating sales that approximately equaled two times the sales of the two halves of 2005. Al-Khalawi anticipates expected that the current performance will be a turning point for the USA factory. Amiantit has confirmed orders that reached US$ 346.6 million by the end of the first half of 2006. It is expected that orders will increase in the second half due to continuous growth in infrastructure projects in Saudi Arabia, India, Algeria and North America. The company is expecting to generate sales of US$ 800 million, an increase of 20% compared with 2005.
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