RIYADH: Shares of Saudi United Wire Factories Co., known as Aslak, climbed 2.91 percent to close Sunday at SR31.85, after its first-half profits surged 40 percent to SR42 million ($11.2 million). The profit increased against SR30 million from the prior-year period, the steel wire producer said in a bourse statement. The company attributed the rise in net profit to growth in sales volume and higher profit margins during the period. Its revenues for the period reached SR507 million, an increase of 14 percent compared with the prior year. Established in 1990, Aslak is a business unit of National Metal Manufacturing and Casting Co. or Maadaniyah. In a separate announcement, Aslak said it will pay cash dividends of SR1 per share to its shareholders for the first half of 2022.