Ash-Sharqiyah Dev CEO says dairy line shut down to cut losses

Ash-Sharqiyah Development Co.’s board of directors decided to sell the company’s herd of cows after seeing sequential losses of SAR 31.5 million over the past five years.

With productions costs surpassing selling prices, fierce competition, as well as the continuous rise in feedstock prices, the company had to shut down its dairy production line to save itself from incurring operating losses, chief executive Samer Al-Sourani told Argaam.

The firm will keep running its agriculture business, however, and will focus on using new technologies and renewable energy to reduce the consumption of water, electricity, and work force.

The company is also studying adding new activities to the business, Al-Sourani said.