Saudi Electricity Co (SEC), the largest listed utility in the Gulf, said Monday its net profit surged to SR1.1 billion ($293 million) in the second-quarter from a net profit of SR715 million a year earlier mainly on higher revenue and lower costs. Investment Bank NCB Capital had expected the utility to post a second-quarter net profit of SR948 million, while EFG-Hermes projected a net profit of SR864 million for the three-month period. SEC, whose major shareholder is the Saudi government, typically posts losses in the cooler months and swings to profit during the intense heat of the summer. The firm experienced a net loss of SR782 million in the first-quarter of 2010 due to higher operational costs to meet growing demand in the kingdom. First-half earnings per share came in at SR0.7 from losses per share SR0.1 a year earlier, while second-quarter operating profit rose 55 percent to SR962 million. Second-quarter gross income stood at SR1.1 billion against SR776 million in the April-June period of last year. SEC was forcast to invest $80 billion over the next 10 years to add 20,000 megawatts of power generation capacity.
