A'Saffa Foods, one of Oman's fastest growing and most successful home-based food manufacturers, has announced a 22.8 per cent growth in net profit as well as a 14.07 per cent rise in sales for 2011.
The results were announced by the A'Saffa chairman, Eng Saleh Mohammed al Shanfari, who said they were the result of excellent team work from all the expanding business units, with staff working hard to achieve the goals they were set to maximise shareholder returns.
According to a press release, total net sales for 2011 reached RO21.33mn. Sales have more than doubled - increasing 130 per cent over the past five years. Net profit for 2011 was up by 22.8 per cent to RO3.85mn.
Speaking at the company's annual general meeting, Eng Shanfari said that 2011 was a challenging year for businesses and the food industry being hit by a significant rise in feed prices.
He said, "Despite the spike in commodity prices in 2011, A'Saffa Foods did not increase its product prices - although most other players in the market did so in both 2010 and 2011.
"A'Saffa Foods made the decision not to pass on the additional cost burden to our customers but focused our energies
on improving production efficiencies and increasing the range of our product lines to consumers across the sultanate. This policy has enabled us to continue to grow our market share and ensure we are able to develop our strategy to become a highly diversified food manufacturing company here in Oman."
The chairman told shareholders at the AGM that even with the challenges the company and the wider economy faced in 2011, A'Saffa was able to achieve very strong financial results with significant increases in net profits, gross profits and net sales.
Looking ahead to the coming financial year, Eng Shanfari added, "We believe the economy of Oman is set for continued expansion in 2012 and apart from investments in Duqm there are major projects in progress including a proposed rail network and new air and sea ports. It is clear that increased public sector hiring will help to generate more business for the private sector and we are confident that the food and retail sector will be the first beneficiary this year."
A'Saffa is also making a major impact in helping to enhance food security as its manufacturing base grows and develops from its core fresh and frozen chicken production and product range into the Khayrat brand that has introduced processed meat, fish and vegetables into the market and has also introduced frozen fruit and fruit pulp products on to supermarket shelves.
© Muscat Daily 2012
