Saudi Savola profits surge as Gulf shoppers filled their freezers

The company behind some of the Kingdom’s best known supermarket brands said net income jumped to SR910.8 million ($242.6 million) last year — even though overall sales rose only marginally to about SR21.7 billion.

The standout performer for the Jeddah-based group was its frozen food segment where revenues grew 18.8 percent.

“For the year 2020 as compared to last year, net profits from the food processing, frozen foods and investments increased by 6.4 percent, 57.1 percent and 15.6 percent, respectively,” the company said in a filing to the Tadawul stock exchange on Tuesday.

Frozen food sales surged worldwide last year, especially during the early days of the pandemic when consumers panic bought staple items through fear of shortages emerging.

Some of the world’s largest food producers including Nestle and Unilever have benefited from an increase in people eating at home during coronavirus lockdowns.

Gulf food producers are emerging from a tough trading period prior to last year as the introduction of value added tax in some countries and the departure of expats led to a lull in consumer spending that is now abating.