Saudi Arabian construction firm Abdullah Abdul Mohsin Al-Khodari and Sons said on Tuesday it swung to a net loss in the second quarter as earnings were pressured once again by a slowdown in the kingdom's building sector.

The company made a net loss of SR43.34 million ($11.6 million) in the three months to June 30 compared to a profit of SR34.86 million in the year-earlier period.

EFG Hermes had forecast the company would make a net loss of SR16 million during the quarter.

Al-Khodari cited a 37.4 per cent dip in revenue, partly due to a lower contribution from newly awarded contracts. It also blamed a 10 per cent rise in financial charges and a 43.7 percent drop in other income due to a decrease in sales of used equipment.

Last month, Al-Khodari said it would book a SR19.4 million special loss after it received state permission to reallocate a government contract it won in 2014 to another company.

Al-Khodari, like many construction-related firms, has been pressured by a severe slowdown in the sector caused by cutbacks in state spending due to lower oil prices. It had reported losses in two of the preceding three quarters.

The firm was awarded SR54 million of new contracts in the second quarter, down from SR340 million in the corresponding period of 2015.  - Reuters