Agthia Group reports a profit of AED 52 million for the last quarter of 2018, beating consensus estimates

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 3 February 2019: Agthia Group PJSC, one of the UAEs leading food and beverages companies, reported preliminary and unaudited results for the fiscal year that ended 31 December 2018. Fiscal year net profit rose to AED 211 million, growing 2.1 percent over the previous year. The Group posted AED 2 billion in revenues. When several non-repeating items are excluded from 2017 revenues, this represented 2 percent increase over 2017.

H.E. Eng. Dhafer Ayed Al Ahbabi, Agthia Chairman, said, The Group has once again demonstrated its resilience and achieved strong results in another difficult year. These results highlight our commitment to continued growth even in the face of challenges by transforming them into opportunities that positively impact our shareholders, consumers and partners."

Companys flagship Al Ain Water has successfully maintained its distant number one market share in the UAE on the back of a solid 5 percent volume growth despite aggressive price promotions in the market throughout the year. Together with Alpin and Al Bayan water brands, Agthia has increased its overall market share by 70 basis points to 30 percent in the UAE bottled water market.

Tariq Ahmed Al Wahedi, Agthia Group CEO, said, Agthia displayed strong performance across major metrics throughout our product portfolio in a year which was earmarked by aggressive competitive activity against the backdrop of declining consumer spend and changing purchasing habits, both at home and in international markets.

Al Wahedi added, We will continue working towards increasing our market share across different categories and strengthening our regional footprint through geographic expansion. We are confident that our efforts to integrate innovation in the food and beverages sector will enable us to realize our growth ambitions and enrich our product portfolio to achieve our strategic goals."

Food business registered a solid top and bottom line growth on the back of very strong performance in the Companys Egypt and Community Support Division business units. In Egypt, revenues increased by 25 percent on account of continuous retail expansion and higher exports. Community Support Division, covering Abu Dhabi and Al Ain Municipality stores as well as Agthia stores, grew revenues by 47 percent thanks to an aggressive product portfolio expansion and improvements in in-store shopping experiences for customers including online ordering and home delivery.

Agthias Agri-Business, composed of Grand Mills Flour and Agrivita Animal Feed products, posted AED 0.91 billion in net revenues. Each business increased their respective like-for-like revenues by 2 percent. Flour business performed particularly well in the Northern Emirates as a result of the increased retail distribution.

Group net profit for the year increased to AED 211 million, 2.1 percent higher than in 2017.

Like-for-like basis, net profit posted 11.5 percent growth. Unwavering commitment to cost optimization across the entire organization, in addition to price increases in some categories and a government extension of a Flour subsidy program that was earlier announced to be discontinued as of July 2018, helped counter the negative impact of higher wheat and PET prices and promotional price reductions, particularly in the Water business.

Agthia reported AED 0.351 earnings per share (EPS) for the year 2018.
The Company will hold its Annual General Meeting at the end of March this year, where the Companys Audited Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2018, along with other agenda items will be presented and submitted for approval.