Nadec profit more than triples to $81m in 2023

Net profit at the Saudi farming giant National Agricultural Development Company (Nadec) climbed to a record high of SAR302 million ($81 million) in 2023, more than tripling from SAR96 million a year ago.

The profit rise was driven by a stable market environment, good trading performance, operational efficiency and automation, the company said.

Yearly revenue was up 19 percent to SAR3 billion, thanks to the positive performance of its dairy and food processing divisions, and agriculture operations in the Saudi Arabian and wider GCC markets.

• Agriculture major Nadec lines up $533m rights issue

• Nadec profit almost triples on rising dairy and food sales

• Saudi dairy giant plans to turn bio-waste into fertiliser

However, finance costs rose year on year by 56 percent, mainly because of higher interest rates.

Selling and marketing expenses also rose, by 15 percent year on year, after a rise in distribution costs and promotional expenses and increased spending on marketing activities. However, promotional expenses as a percentage of sales fell by 0.6 percent year on year.

In June last year, Nadec filed an application to regulators to increase its capital by SAR2 billion ($533 million) through a rights issue.

The increase in capital will help to fund its 2023-2027 strategy, which aims to grow business operations, develop new markets and expand product range.

Nadec has set a target of SAR6 billion in annual revenues by 2027. 

The company produces more than 1.4 million litres of dairy and juice a day and has products sold in 35,000 stores across the GCC.