Almarai’s five-year plan looks to invest SAR 14.5 mln

Almarai Co., one of the Gulf’s top dairy and juice producers, has said it expects capital investments to reach SAR 14.5 million in its five-year plan.

The company is looking to finance its investments from operating cash flow, credit facilities from local banks, loans from the Saudi Industrial Development Fund, the Agricultural Development Fund, and sukuk.

The board-approved plan will focus in the next five years on replacing existing assets, boosting production capacities at its farms and manufacturing facilities, and improving distribution and transportation services.

Almarai also plans to continue growing its core business segments, such as the poultry and infant nutrition units, and dairy and juice businesses in Egypt and Jordan, which are managed through International Dairy and Juice (IDJ)— its joint venture with PepsiCo. The five-year plan forecasts a compound annual growth rate for sales at about 10 percent.

The Saudi-listed company is also looking to expand across the region, and create nearly 4,500 jobs for Saudi nationals, out of which 20 percent will be for females, it added.