Saudi Arabian dairy giant Almarai has posted net profits reaching $123.19 million ( SAR 463.172 million) in the third quarter of 2022, marking a 13.2% increase from the $108.8 million (SAR 409 million) recorded during the same period a year earlier. The company's revenue grew by 20.9% in the third quarter of 2022 to $1.26 billion (SAR 4.76 billion) compared to $1 billion (SAR 3.94 billion) in the same quarter a year earlier, the company said in a bourse filing Sunday. Almarai revenues during the first nine months of the year also rose by 19.76% to $3.69 billion (SAR 13.88 billion). The company attributed the rise in revenues to higher sales of poultry and bakery, citing growth in all categories due to better trading conditions post-COVID-19. Net profit during the first nine months of 2022 edged up 9.94% to $372.37 million (SAR 1.4 billion), the filing said. The company's poultry category saw a 43.2% hike in revenues during the third quarter of 2022, supported by volume growth in the food service segment and capacity expansion. The dairy and juice category saw increased year-on-year profits during the quarter, driven by 15.4% growth in sales, which was partly offset by cost inflation, the company said. The bakery category saw a 31.8% growth in sales during the third quarter, mainly driven by the single-serve product mix due to the opening of schools.
"The key risk remains surging cost inflation for dairy and feed commodities. We continue to see parts of global supply chain remaining under stress. Almarai will continue to manage this risk by better hedging activities and by leveraging its stock cover, where relevant," the company said in a statement on the Saudi Exchange. Almarai is one of the world’s largest vertically-integrated dairy companies and one of the region’s largest food and beverage manufacturing and distribution companies. The company ranks 38th on Forbes Middle East's list of Top 100 Listed Companies 2022. Abdullah AlBader joined the company in 2000 and became CEO in March 2021. He ranks 54th on Forbes's Top 100 CEOs in the Middle East list in 2022.
Almarai has diversified its product portfolio to include juices, bakery, poultry and infant formula under the brand names Almarai, Lusine, 7DAYS and ALYOUM. Almarai Company has successful joint ventures with Chipita and PepsiCo.
In March 2021, Almarai acquired Bakemart in the UAE and Bahrain in a deal worth $25.5 million, the company said in a filing. In November 2021, it completed the acquisition of the Binghatti Beverages’ production facility in the UAE for $58.6 million. Saudi Arabia is the major contributor towards sales for the group, followed by the UAE.
