Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s Almarai Co said on Sunday its first-quarter profit rose 7.3 per cent, missing analysts’ estimates despite higher sales and a one-off gain from an acquisition. 
Almarai made a net profit of 273.6 million riyals ($73 million) in the three months to March 31, up from 255.1 million riyals a year earlier, it said in a bourse statement. Analysts on average forecast Almarai would make a quarterly profit of 284.9 million riyals. 
The company had sales worth 2.72 billion riyals in the first quarter, up 12.3 per cent from a year earlier.