Almarai invested over SAR 4 bln in 2016, says CEO

Almarai Co. invested nearly SAR 4.4 billion, or 30 percent of its sales proceeds, in plant, equipment and real estate assets during 2016 to be able to meet pent-up demand for its products, chief executive Georges Schorderet told Al-Arabiya TV on Monday.

Schorderet said that higher fuel and power tariffs have directly and indirectly impacted production costs last year. However, increased operational efficiency helped Almarai absorb SAR 200 million in higher costs.

The performance of the company’s poultry segment was unsatisfactory as the company was hurt by a huge influx of frozen poultry imports. However, the segment is expected to break even this year, Schorderet added.

Almarai posted a fourth-quarter net profit of SAR 488.5 million, up 1 percent from SAR 483.7 million in Q4 2015.