RIYADH: The publicly-listed Eastern Province Cement Company"s 2021 profits dropped by 7 percent to SR201 million ($54 million), a bourse filing revealed. Profits fell from SR217 million a year earlier, even as revenues inched 2 percent higher, it said. The company attributed the results to lower income from investments, higher losses from asset write-offs, and increased Zakat expenses. Despite lower annual profits, the company has proposed the distribution of SR94.6 million in half-year dividends. Shareholders will receive SR1.1 per share, according to the filing. Cement producers across the Kingdom are witnessing a downturn in profits for 2021 driven by a drop in selling prices.