Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Company (Safco) was founded in 1965 and is 41 per cent owned by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic). Safco employees own 10 per cent of the company and the remaining 49 per cent is in the hands of private Saudi investors.

It now operates a plant in Dammam and a newer unit in Jubail industrial city. It manufactures ammonia, urea, sulphuric acid and melamine. In 1996, Safco took over National Chemical Fertilizer Company (Ibn al-Baytar), an ammonia, urea and compound and phosphate fertilizer manufacturer that was previously a 50:50 joint venture between Safco and Sabic.

The company doubled its paid-in capital in 1996 to SR 1,000 million ($267 million) through a two-for-one stock dividend. Capital was further increased in April 1998 to SR 1,500 million ($400 million) in a one-for-two bonus issue and this was followed with a stock split which reduced Safco's nominal share value to SR 50 ($13.

33) from SR 100 ($26.67). There are currently 30 million Safco shares.Safco completed in 1999 the new ammonia and urea plants. These doubled the capacity of Safco's Jubail operations. Total Safco capacity, including output from its original Jubail complex, will rise to 1.

2 million tonnes a year (t/y) of ammonia and more than 1.5 million t/y of urea. The company was hit hard by the fall in world fertilizer prices in 1998 and 1999. Net income for the year was just SR 1.4 million ($373,000) in 1999.

However, profitability recovered in the final quarter of the year to offset the loss recorded in the first nine months. In a statement issued at the end of January, Safco said that the drop in melamine prices was also an important factor in its poor performance in 1999.

To deal with falling sales revenues, Safco cut operating expenditures by 18 per cent in the year.

Individuals	N/A
Institutions	43%
Floating	N/A
Government	N/A

Chairman	Mohammad Bin Hammad Al Mady
Vice Chairman	Yousuf Al Zamil Abdulrahman

	2004	2003	2002
Total Assets	5,279,788	4,618,434	4,320,640
Shareholder's Equity	4,247,918	3,907,822	3,663,355
NIAT	660,096	402,877	110,449
Dividends	N/A	320,000	160,000

	2004	2003	2002
Assets Growth	14.32%	6.89%	-3.01%
Earning Growth	63.85%	264.76%	-56.63%
ROaA	13.34%	9.01%	2.52%
ROaE	16.19%	10.64%	2.98%
No. Of Shares	40,000,000	40,000,000	40,000,000
EPS	16.50	10.07	2.76
EPS Growth	63.85%	264.76%	-56.63%
Payout Ratio	N/A	79.429	144.863

	Trailing
PE
PB
DVPS
Div Yield
EV
EV/Equity

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