Dubai: Saudi Electricity Co (SEC), the Gulf’s largest utility firm, reported a 17.3 per cent drop in second-quarter net profit on Sunday as revenues from electricity services fell and financing costs rose. The company, which the government is aiming to restructure to improve efficiency, made a net profit of 1.85 billion riyals (Dh1.87 billion, $493 million) in the three months to June 30, according to a bourse statement. That compares with a profit of 2.23 billion riyals in the same period a year earlier. Saudi Arabia’s main sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, owns 74 per cent of SEC. The kingdom will consider selling a large stake in SEC to SoftBank Vision Fund, but the Saudi government would retain a controlling shareholding, the utility said in October.