Gulf Mushroom Products Company, the largest producer of mushrooms in the Middle East, is planning to increase its production capacity by 50 per cent with an investment of RO4.2mn, according to company's filing on Muscat Securities Market (MSM) on Thursday.
The board of directors of the company has approved the capacity expansion plan at a meeting on Wednesday and threy have also proposed a dividend of 35 per cent, with 25 per cent in cash and ten per cent in stocks, to shareholders for the year 2011.
Speaking to Muscat Daily, Abdullah Nasser al Hadharami, general manager of Gulf Mushroom Products, said the total estimated cost of expansion will be RO4.2mn.
He added that the company will acquire a bank loan of RO2.5mn and the balance will be funded by Gulf Mushroom Products itself. "After the capacity expansion our total production will increase to 3500MT annually from 2500MT at present.
However, the full expansion will be achieved over the next 4-5 years starting from next year because the expansion in agriculture cannot happen at one go. "The expansion will only go ahead after receiving necessary approvals from various related authorities."
He added that the expansion of the plant will be near the existing facility in Barka. The company has estimated a net profit of RO930,000 for the year 2011 which is in line with it's last year's performance.
© Muscat Daily 2011
