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Agthia Group, the UAE-based food and beverages firm, listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange has reported a group attributable net profit of 261.01 million dirhams ($71.06 million) for 2023, compared to AED246.79 million a year ago.
Despite revenue for the company’s protein and frozen business declining by 10.8% due to “currency headwinds in Egypt” and “increased competitiveness in the Jordan protein market”, the overall group net revenue increased 12.1% year-on-year to AED4.56 billion, boosted by the performance from the snacking and agri-business, according to a statement from Agthia.
Agthia’s EBITDA grew 21.2% year-on-year to AED689.3 million, inclusive of currency headwind, reflecting a strong growth in the company’s snacking vertical, which saw a growth of 62.0% year-on-year.
Revenue in the snacking vertical grew 38% year-on-year, which the company attributed to ‘strong value growth across retail channels in the UAE and internationally’.
Agthia’s board of directors has recommended a full-year cash dividend payment of 18.5 fils per share, along with bonus shares equivalent to 5% of share capital.
Total dividends distributed for the year amounted to AED146.5 million, reflecting a 12% increase compared to the cash dividend distributed in 2022. Subject to AGM approval, Agthia will pay a cash dividend of 10.25 fils per share for the second half of 2023. The company has already paid an interim cash dividend of 8.25 fils per share (AED65.31 million) for the six months ending on 30 June 2023.
Agthia’s balance sheet reported cash and equivalents of AED0.6 billion. Its net debt to EBITDA ratio of 1.3x (net debt of AED0.9 billion) was down from 2.3x as of December 2022 after the cumulative repayment of AED839 million of debt in 2023.
(Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)
