Leisure & Hospitality Kingdom Holding plans $267m dividend despite profit drop By Pramod Kumar March 27, 2024, 5:43 AM Unsplash.com/Hala AlGhanim Net profit dropped to SAR1.01 billion last year, compared with SAR6.95 billion a year ago Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) plans to distribute a dividend of more than SAR1 billion ($267 million) for 2023 despite profits falling by 85 percent. The board of the investment company, founded by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, proposed a 2.8 percent cash dividend, totalling SAR1.03 billion, for 2023, subject to shareholders approval. Net profit dropped to SAR1 billion ($270 million) last year, compared with just under SAR7 billion a year ago. NewsletterGet the Best of AGBI delivered straight to your inbox every week The decline was attributed to a one-off gain in the sale of half of its stake in Four Seasons Holdings in 2022, but no such gain was recognised in the current year, the company said in a statement to the Saudi stock exchange. KHC reported increased financial charges and operating costs in the hotel and other sectors, in addition to a decline in dividend income. Revenue climbed 8.5 percent year on year to SAR2.7 billion, driven by a rise in hotels and other operating revenues. Kingdom Holding, Red Sea Global set up JV to develop $533m resort Kingdom Holding ups stake in Citigroup with Alwaleed deal Kingdom Holding profit up 10% on higher hotel revenue Earnings per share fell to SAR0.27 in 2023 from SAR1.88 in 2022. In November 2023, the company increased its investment in Citigroup after buying a $450 million stake from Prince Alwaleed. The deal raised Kingdom’s stake to 2.2 percent from 1.63 percent. The company signed a SAR2 billion joint venture in October 2023 with Red Sea Global to develop and own a Four Seasons resort at the Red Sea giga-project. In 2022, the prince sold a 17 percent stake in KHC to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund.