Emphasis on prudent risk management and its drive for sustainable growth have helped ZAD Holding Company achieve a consistent and profitable growth trajectory in 2018, according to a top company official.
In the board of director’s report delivered during ZAD Holding’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, the company proactively implemented a comprehensive range of internal and external efficiency and cost management initiatives to address the challenges of increased cost on imported raw materials, packaging materials, and logistics.
“Our achievement of the above business performance is a result of having a clear vision and a long-term strategy along with a very proactive board of directors providing leadership and guidance to our very capable management team,” the report said.
On behalf of ZAD Holding chairman Sheikh Nasser bin Mohamed bin Jabor al-Thani, board member Abdulla Ali al-Ansari presided over the meeting, which approved the board’s recommendation to distribute QR8.5 per share as cash dividends for the year 2018.
During the meeting, al-Ansari informed shareholders that despite the current economic scenario in the market, ZAD Holding managed to maintain good performance last year, registering a net profit of QR213.49mn, or a 7.66% growth over QR198.3mn in 2017.
Al-Ansari also said the construction of the company’s state-of-the-art cold storage facility, which became operational last year, as well as the establishment of a fully-integrated state-of-the-art edible oil refining and packaging facility were strategic investments that helped continue further growth and expansion.
“It has also been our guiding principle to invest surplus funds in projects with high yield potential and low risk, which are strategic and long term in nature. In the absence of such opportunities, we prefer to return the funds to our shareholders,” al-Ansari said.
Speaking to Gulf Times on the sidelines of the meeting, ZAD Holding CEO Tarique Mohamed said the brand for the edible oil was well-received by consumers here, taking “around 25% to 30% market share.”
“We are directly importing edible oil in its crude form from US and European markets, as well as in some markets in Southeast Asia, and we are refining it here, so there is no reliance now from GCC countries.
“We stock the raw material and then we refine and repack it as per the market’s requirements…and this definitely helps in the self-sufficiency efforts of the country,” Mohamed said.
In a separate statement, Mohamed added, “The vision and leadership of our board of directors, along with our business ethics and core values, has played a very important role in further strengthening our relationship with all our stakeholders.
“Through our customer centric approach and relentless pursuit for perfection, we are committed to achieving the highest standards of product and service quality, improved customer relationships, and adaptation to market dynamics. We will strive for efficiency and profitability across the segments that we operate in, to scale new horizons for the company in the coming years.”
