RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index slipped 24.18 points, or 0.22 percent, to close at 11,206.02 on Tuesday as 111 of the 224 stocks rose, while 95 declined. Stocks listed on the Pharma, Biotech, & Life Science index soared the most, with a 9.28 percent climb, while the stocks of the Energy and the Telecommunication sectors fell 1.96 and 1 percent, respectively. While the parallel market Nomu rose 0.57 percent to close at 20,682.62, the MSCI Tadawul Index dropped by 0.18 percent to close at 1,504.59. The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR6.9 billion ($1.84 billion). Astra Industrial Group was the top performer of the day, climbing 9.9 percent to close at SR74.40. Middle East Healthcare Co. and Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances Corp. also climbed with their share prices hitting 9.9 percent and 9.85 percent, respectively. The worst performer was National Medical Care Co., which tumbled 3.11 percent to SR103. On the announcements front, Astra Industrial Group ended the first quarter of 2023 with a net profit of SR122.8 million, which equates to a rise of 64.53 percent when compared to the SR74.69 million reported in the previous year. The company attributed the positive change in performance to a rise in revenues across all the healthcare and pharmaceutical business lines. Its share price closed higher by 9.9 percent at SR74.40. Meanwhile, Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances Corp., also known as SPIMACO, announced a net profit of SR56.8 million for the first quarter of 2023. That amounted to a 85.02 percent jump in profits when compared to the SR30.7 million in the prior year. The results were mainly driven by sales across all channels during the first quarter, which is historically the strongest quarter of the year for the Saudi pharmaceutical sector, according to the company. Its share price closed higher by 9.85 percent at SR29. Saudi Cement Co. saw a rise of 102.6 percent in net profits to SR123.8 million compared to SR61 million in the same quarter of 2022. The reason for the increase was attributed to a rise in average selling prices and an increase in total quantities sold. Its share price closed higher by 0.53 percent at SR56.70. Najran Cement Co. also saw a rise of 24.6 percent in net profits from SR23.28 million in the first quarter of 2022 to reach SR28.98 million as of the end of March 2023. The company explained how its cost-cutting strategy combined with an increase in revenue led to the rise in profits. Its share price closed lower by 1.13 percent at SR14.04. Taiba Investments Co. reported a net profit of SR62.06 million, which equates to a rise of around 205 percent when compared to SR20.35 million in the first quarter of 2022. The company said it saw a rise in net profit due to the increase in revenues as a result of the recovery of Taiba’s main activities from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its share price closed higher by 0.34 percent at SR29.80. Meanwhile, Saudi Industrial Services Co. revealed a 2,325 percent rise in net profit, which reached SR19.4 million compared to SR800k in the first quarter of 2022. The company explained that its gross margins improved as it simultaneously adopted effective cost control strategies while increasing sales volume at higher prices in the ports segment. Its share price closed lower at SR29.40, which equates to a 1.03 percent drop for the day. Almasane Alkobra Mining Co. registered a decline in profits of 21.39 percent to SR32.86 million in the first quarter of 2023, down from the SR41.81 million record during the same period last year. Its share price closed higher by 0.25 percent at SR79.30. Theeb Rent a Car Co. showed a slight decrease in net profits of 0.7 percent to SR42.3 million in the first quarter, compared to SR42.6 million in the year-ago period. The company claimed there has been a drop in demand in the short-term leasing sector. Its share price closed lower by 2.11 percent at SR75. Al Hammadi Holding saw a 31.41 percent rise in profits to SR81.42 million in the March quarter of 2023 compared to SR61.96 in the previous year. Each of the pharmaceutical company’s segments reported growth during the quarter. Its share price closed lower by 0.75 percent at SR54. Al Moammar Information Systems Co. posted a jump in net profits to SR46.57 million in the first quarter of 2023, which equates to a 912.4 percent rise when compared to SR4.6 million reported in the year-ago period. The increase is attributed to sales in all of its product lines, services, and offerings. Its share price closed higher by 4.37 percent at SR128.80.