Saudi-listed Aldrees Petroleum and Transport Services Co., one of the biggest operators of fuel stations in the Kingdom, saw its shares surge on Tuesday after announcing a 46 percent net profit hike in 2021. Profits reached SR177 million ($47 million), compared to SR121 million a year earlier, and revenues leaped 83 percent to reach SR9.1 billion amid a revival of the pandemic-hit economy. In response to the announcement, shares of the Riyadh-based petroleum company surged over 2 percent in early morning trading on Jan 18. By 2.05 p.m. Saudi time, the stocks were up 1.36 percent. The profit growth was due to a rise in sales of the transport and petroleum services sector, as well as the reevaluation of its investments, Aldrees said in a bourse statement. This came despite higher expenses and financial and Zakat charges, in addition to a decrease in profit from joint ventures, it added. In a separate statement, Aldrees announced its board of directors’ recommendation to distribute around SR113 million dividends to shareholders for the fisca l year 2021. This equates to SR1.5 per share.