eXtra records all-time high profit in 2021 on strong operating performance, says CEO

Mohamed Galal, CEO of United Electronics Co. (eXtra) 

United Electronics Co. (eXtra) recorded the largest profit in its history in 2021, more than double the 2018 profit, thanks to the superior performance of all segments, Managing Director and CEO Mohamed Galal told Argaam in an exclusive.

He added that the company's market share, based on the latest reports, reached a strong level of nearly 19.1% in November 2021, given the changes in the electronics market, which include restrictions on manufacturing and supplying electronic chips.  

"The supply of such chips is the backbone of the electronics market," the CEO noted.

The share of e-commerce sales from the total sales exceeded the expected level in 2021, as it reached 31.6% in Q4 2021, compared to 26.7% in Q4 2020. Accordingly, the total percentage of e-commerce sales reached 23% of the total sales, compared to 22% in 2020, which signals the accelerated transition to e-commerce in 2021.

With the growth in consumer finance services, eXtra, which has become one of the fastest-growing companies in the sector through its topnotch e-platform, managed to process more than one million financing applications during its journey of consumer finance, as well as build a financing portfolio worth over SAR 1.2 billion in 2021.

This, accordingly, boosted the consumer finance segment's contribution to the growth in gross profit and net profit by 14.1% and 32%, respectively, in 2021, Galal said.

He stressed that there are still more opportunities for growth in the company's retail and consumer finance segments, indicating that several opportunities will drive the retail segment, especially when the production process and product supply chains stabilize.

As for consumer finance, the top executive said the non-bank finance segment is still in the process of growth and needs more financing products and services derived from integrating typical financing methods with the latest technology, so Tas’heel will be one of the pioneering companies that provide such services.

As for the company's future, Galal said eXtra is working on achieving more breakthroughs to develop the retail map in the region, so that its products and services would add value to customers.

eXtra reported a net profit after Zakat and tax of SAR 396.7 million in 2021, a rise of 24% compared with SAR 125.9 million a year earlier, according to data compiled by Argaam.