The contractor carries out 95% of its work on government contracts, and in the year to December 31 it achieved a turnover of $400mn (SR1.5bn). Profits more than halved to $17.2mn, which the company blamed on higher costs – most notably the costs of meeting Saudisation requirements, with levies of $640 (SR2400) placed on every expat worker above a certain ratio adding $6.9mn (SR26mn) to its annual work permits bill. More recently, however, Al Khodari has said that the cost of meeting these requirements was beginning to fade which, coupled with an improved backlog of around $980mn – due largely to the firm securing $720mn of new work last year – should see its margins improving.

The firm has also announced plans to set up new business units dealing in telecoms and data equipment, which will allow it to enter into the market to build new data centres.