RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Hail Cement Co. has reported losses of SR6 million ($1.6 million) for the first nine months of 2022 despite witnessing a growth in sales. The cement producer had made profits of SR47 million in the same period last year, a bourse filing showed. Shares of Hail went down in response to the announcements, shedding 0.31 percent to reach SR12.74 by the end of Monday’s session. Despite incurring losses, the company’s revenue went up by 32 percent to SR268 million year-on-year. Hail Cement attributed the poor performance to lower average selling prices and higher sales costs. For the third quarter of the year, Hail witnessed a 31 percent surge in profits to SR7.8 million, coupled with an 84 percent jump in sales to SR103 million. Hail said its third-quarter results were driven by higher sales quantities and values, and lower general and administrative expenses.