The increase in net profit this year over last year is primarily due to 1) higher operating revenue, which is primarily driven by the growth in electric power demand and the increase in the balancing account amounts compared to the prior year; 2) higher other income, which is primarily due to recorded non-recurring items; and 3) higher income from equity-accounted investees, which is primarily due to the classification change of the SEC's interest in IPPs from being accounted as joint to being classified as an equity investment.
Additionally, higher fuel and purchased power costs, which were primarily fueled by an increase in demand for electric power, have somewhat offset greater operating revenue as well as higher other income. This is in addition to a little increase in net financing expenses and an increase in provisions for receivables from the sale of energy and other sources. The adjusted net profit for 2022 (net profit attributable to common shares less Mudaraba Instrument profit of 7.7 BSR) increased by 11% to 7.5 BSR from 6.7 BSR in the prior year. As a result, 2022's basic and diluted earnings per share were SAR 1.79, as opposed to SAR 1.62 the year before.
In comparison to the previous year, shareholder equity for 2022 (total equity excluding the Mudaraba instrument) increased by 6% to 89.1 BSR from 83.7 BSR.
On Tuesday, March 21, 2023, at 3:30 PM (KSA Time), the company will have a conference call to go over the financial results for the fiscal year 2022 with investors and financial analysts. Investor Relations at the company can be reached at [email protected] if investors want to take part in this conference call.
