https://arab.news/w8vvk
- Savola approved a cash dividend of SR400.5 million
- Follows a bumper year of frozen food sales in 2020
DUBAI: Savola reported a year-over-year decline in net profit as sales and margins in the retail sector fell, it received a smaller share of profit from associates and operating expenses increased.
First-quarter net profit slipped 11 percent to SR153.8 million ($41 million) from a year earlier, the Jeddah-based food group said in a filing to the stock exchange. However, profits surged from SR44.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 when it wrote down the value of some of its assets amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Profit per share was SR290,000, down from SR320,000, while total shareholder equity after deducting minority equity was SR8.51 billion, an increase of 11.79 percent from a year earlier.
Savola said on Thursday it approved a cash dividend of SR400.5 million, or SR0.75 per share, to be distributed on May 24. The company also approved the buyback of 1.2 million shares to cover the second and third tranches of the Employees Long Term Incentive Plan.
The company behind some of the Kingdom’s best known supermarket brands saw a 92 percent jump in profits last year driven by rising demand for frozen foods.