HE al-Qahtani has said Al Meera was able to post “zero bank debt status” as of December 31, 2013: PICTURE: Sami al-Thalathini.
By Peter Alagos
Driven by a fast-paced refurbishing of existing establishments and the addition of new stores, Al Meera Consumer Goods Company posted solid sales and gross profit in 2013.
“Sales for 2013 increased by 29.4% from QR1.5mn in 2012 to QR1.9mn,” said Al Meera’s Chairman of the board HE Abdulla bin Khaled al-Qahtani, who is also the Minister of Public Health, during the company’s recently-held annual general assembly meeting.
Al-Qahtani also announced that Al Meera’s Qatar retail sales last year on fresh produce jumped 24.4% and contributed 19% of the total retail sales.
Similarly, retail customer transactions in Qatar grew by about 10% from QR19.2mn in 2012 to QR21.1mn last year, while the average check-out basket rose 2.8% from QR83.35 in 2012 to QR85.63 in 2013.
Gross profit in 2013 was up by 25.0% from QR255.7mn in 2012 to QR319.5mn, said al-Qahtani, who added that the company’s operating income was up 21.2%, or QR382.2mn.
“Net profit attributable to owners of the company, after non-controlling interest and inclusive of extraordinary income of QR71.4mn, rose by 85.4% from QR105.8mn to QR196.1mn, while net profit attributable to company owners, excluding gain on expropriation of land and building, rose 17.9% or QR124.7mn,” al-Qahtani said.
According to al-Qahtani, the company’s total assets rose by 71.6% from QR1mn in 2012 to QR1.7mn as of December 31, 2013. Total equity soared 360% from QR305.2mn in 2012 to QR1.4bn as of December 2013 as a result of the capital increase and earnings generated last year.
Al-Qahtani also announced that the company was able to repay all of its borrowings and posted “zero bank debt status” as of December 31, 2013.
As of December 31 last year, available-for-sale investments were up by 17.8% from QR125.8mn in 2012 to QR148.3mn.
“The company’s 2013 investment portfolio generated net realised gains of QR14.9mn, or a 98.4% increase, from QR7.5mn posted in 2012,” al-Qahtani said.