Saudi sales surge at RAK Ceramics as anti-dumping measures kick in

LONDON: A strong rebound in Saudi Arabia and the introduction of anti-dumping measures against some tile imports from India and China helped to offset the impact of the pandemic at RAK Ceramics.

CEO Abdallah Massaad said the performance over the third quarter represented a strong rebound for the company and that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the year ahead, in an interview with Arab News.

The ceramics giant that operates from the UAE’s northernmost emirate reported broadly flat revenues of 625.7 million dirhams ($170.3 million) in the third quarter compared to the year-earlier period.

Net income attributable to the owners of the company fell 15 percent to 33.1 million dirhams over the same period, the company said in a stock exchange filing.

However, revenue from Saudi Arabia increased by 95.8 percent year on year to 137.8 million dirhams, mainly driven by the tiles business.

“We have begun to see a return to pre-COVID-19 levels of operations across our global business,” said Massaad. “While the sanitaryware and tableware business remains impacted, our tiles business has witnessed healthy growth in Europe and Saudi Arabia, leading to an increase in overall revenue.”

Based on growing market demand, production in the UAE has scaled up to meet demand from Saudi Arabia, the company said.

Sales in the Kingdom received a boost following the launch of three flagship showrooms while the introduction of anti-dumping duty on tiles from China and India has supported revenue growth during the quarter. The new measures have been in place since June.

“Looking ahead, we will continue to implement initiatives to manage the impact of COVID-19. We also plan to diversify and improve profitability in export markets, while focusing on improving operations in India and Europe,” said Massaad.