Zad Holding to boost flour mill capacity by about 12%

Zad Holding Company chairman Sheikh Nasser (centre) and managing director Sheikh Nawaf (left) preside over the company’s annual general meeting. PICTURE: Thajudheen

Peter Alagos/Business Reporter

Zad Holding Company has embarked on a major expansion by increasing its flour mill's capacity by about 12% to a total of 670 metric tonnes per day (mtpd) and constructing warehouses and starting logistic services to cope with the growing demand.

"We are in the process of increasing the flour mill's capacity with an additional 70mtpd to make the total capacity to 670mtpd," Zad Holding managing director Sheikh Nawaf bin Mohamed bin Jabor al-Thani told shareholders at the annual general assembly, which also approved 35% cash dividend.

"We expect to complete the expansion works within the year," he said, adding more expansion plans are on the anvil this year.

"The production capacity of our Arabic and European bakery products has increased significantly and we are in the process of further expansion during the year," Sheikh Nawaf explained.

The expansion path is based on study on demand/supply in the market for all its products and services and in order to make necessary arrangements to accordingly cater to the market.

He also highlighted that Zad Holding (formerly Qatar Flour Mills) is in the process of developing warehouses and logistics services in line with the growing demand. The move comes in view of the growing population, which has crossed the 2mn mark.

During the meeting, Zad Holding chairman Sheikh Nasser bin Mohamed bin Jabor al-Thani said net profit increased by 13.5% from QR110.2mn in 2012 to QR125.1mn.

"The company has managed to maintain an excellent financial position. This was achieved by the company's efforts to strengthen its performance in all sectors," Sheikh Nasser said.

Similarly, Sheikh Nawaf reported that Zad's earning per share rose 13.7% from QR5.11 in 2012 to 5.81% last year.

In 2013, the company installed an additional asphalt plant with a production capacity of 60,000MT/month "in view of the growing demand of construction materials," Sheikh Nawaf pointed out.