Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), the Gulf's largest utility firm, reported a narrowing fourth-quarter net loss on Monday.

The company made a loss of SR1.45 billion ($386.7 million) in the three months to December 31, compared with a loss of SR1.8 billion in the same period a year earlier, it said in a bourse statement.

NCB Capital had forecast SEC would make a quarterly loss of SR1.04 billion.

The utility cited the narrowed quarterly loss due to the "impact of non-recurring items", without elaborating.

Saudi companies issue brief earnings statements early in the reporting period before publishing more detailed results later.

Its results are acutely seasonal because of the big swing between power demand in winter and summer, when high temperatures lead most homes and businesses to use air conditioning more.

Saudi Electricity's annual profit for 2015 was SR1.51 billion, down from a profit of SR3.61 billion, the statement added.

The company had reported a significant profit drop in the second quarter as it failed to repeat a one-time gain it recorded in the same period of the previous year, which subsequently dragged on full-year earnings.  - Reuters