Saudi Arabian Fertilizers Company (Safco) said on Saturday it would give shareholders a cash dividend of 6 riyal ($1.6) for the first half of 2008, double its level a year earlier.

The dividend, approved by directors at a board meeting on Saturday, would cost a total of Sr1.5 billion, Safco said in a statement on the Saudi bourse website.

The company will distribute the dividend at the end of next month, it added. Safco distributed a cash dividend of 3 riyals for the same period in 2007, according to data on the bourse website.

The firm, controlled by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, made a first-quarter net profit of SR723 million, up 125 per cent from the year-earlier period.-Reuters