Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Ma'aden) blamed falling metal prices after it posted a 48 percent drop in first-quarter net profit on Monday.

Ma'aden made a profit of 125.2 million riyals ($33.4 million) in the three months to March 31, down from 239.2 million riyals in the corresponding period of 2013, it said in a filing to Saudi Arabia's bourse.

This was well below the forecast of Bakheet Investment Group, who expected a net profit of 213.1 million riyals for the period.

The company said the profit slump was due to declines in some metal and commodity prices such as gold, aluminium and ammonia.   -Reuters