Halal Industry

Saudi food group Savola bounces back to profit in FY2019


Saudi Arabia food group Savola earned a net profit of 475.6 million riyals ($126.83 million) last year from a loss of 520.4 million riyals in 2018, the company reported in a bourse filing on Wednesday (Jan 29).

It attributes the improvement in its fortunes to several factors, including higher gross profits due to higher sales and margins, higher share of profits from associates, and lower operating expenses mainly due to a significant decrease in impairment losses.

“The net profit for the year was achieved despite of the increase in the net finance cost resulting mainly from the adoption of new leasing standard (IFRS 16) applied during 2019, being partially compensated by the reduced foreign currency exchange losses,” said the company.

Savola’s investments and interests span the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey.

It is involved in the food industry through its Savola Foods unit as well as financial investments in other companies. Savola Foods includes B2C brands Afia, Yudum, Al Tayeb, and Italiano.

The firm’s other investments in the food sector include a 34.52% shareholding in Saudi F&B major Almarai and 51% ownership of frozen foods manufacturer Al Kabeer Group.

($1 = 3.75 Saudi riyals)

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Earnings