Saudi Arabia's Almarai Company, the Gulf's largest dairy firm by market value, said its first-quarter net profit rose 18.6 per cent.

The company made SR234.1 million ($62.43 million) in the three months to March 31 compared to a net profit of SR197.4 million in the same period a year earlier, according to a statement on the bourse website on Saturday.

Forecasts in a Reuters survey ranged between SR230.50 million and SR355 million.-Reuters