Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co , the Saudi Arabian retailer which franchises brands such as Zara and Marks and Spencer in the kingdom, reported on Monday a 40 percent year-on-year leap in net profit for its fourth quarter ended March 31.

Profit climbed to 190.8 million riyals ($50.9 million) in the quarter, missing the average forecast of three analysts polled by Reuters of 230 million riyals.

Sales climbed 10 percent in the quarter to 1.36 billion riyals. In a brief statement, Alhokair attributed the size of the profit rise to other income which it did not specify.

For the full financial year, net profit rose 24 percent to 771.4 million riyals, as sales increased 18 percent to 5.48 billion riyals.

The company also said it planned to pay a dividend of 3 riyals per share for the second half of its last financial year, and that its board had recommended doubling the company's capital to 2.1 billion riyals through a one-for-one bonus issue of shares.  - Reuters