Saudi Arabia’s Almarai, the Middle East’s largest dairy company, plans to invest more than 18 billion Saudi riyals ($4.8 billion) until 2028 to boost its existing businesses and expand into new segments.
The plan includes 7 billion riyals for poultry expansion and 5 billion riyals for strengthening food categories such as dairy, juice and bakery, the company said in a bourse filing to the Saudi stock exchange Tadawul, where its shares are traded.
It is also looking at growing “promising” operating sectors such as frozen food products, red meat, seafood and ice cream.
Almarai said that one billion riyals would be allocated to entering new food segments, and four billion riyals to developing supply chain and sales capabilities to support local and regional expansion plans.
The company also earmarked one billion riyals to support and accelerate technology development.
The plan, which will be financed from the company's operational cash flows over the five-year period starting this year, will consolidate Almarai’s position in the market while supporting its expansion into new markets and sectors, Prince Nayef Al Kabeer, Almarai’s chairman, said.
Almarai's investment strategy is built on multiple pillars, aiming for steady growth in business and products while maintaining quality standards and supporting food security in its markets, he added.
While the kingdom is Almarai’s biggest market, its products are also sold in the GCC region, Egypt and Jordan.
The company reported an increase of more than 4 per cent in fourth-quarter net profit, boosted by higher revenue led by its poultry and dairy businesses.
Net profit attributable to shareholders after zakat and tax for the three months ending December 31 rose to 370.72 million riyals. Almarai's revenue in the fourth quarter rose by about 2 per cent to 4.92 billion riyals annually.
The company recorded “positive” performance in its core GCC markets, led by Saudi Arabia.
However, challenges such as lower commodity sales in North America and reduced contribution from Egypt due to currency devaluation led to a slower overall revenue growth rate.
Many GCC nations rely heavily on food imports due to limited arable land, water scarcity and harsh climate conditions.
The reliance on imports also makes them vulnerable to fluctuations in global food prices, supply disruptions and other external factors that can affect food availability.
The GCC dairy market is projected to grow at an annual rate of 5.4 per cent until 2028, reaching a value of $13.59 billion, compared with $9.93 billion in 2022, according to Research and Markets.
Almarai said its investment will support the kingdom's Vision 2030 economic diversification strategy and aid its aim of achieving food security.
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16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
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5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
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Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
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Banned items
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Drones
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Animals
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Fireworks/ flares
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Radios or power banks
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Laser pointers
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Glass
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Selfie sticks/ umbrellas
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Sharp objects
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
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Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
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Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
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