RAK Ceramics, one of the world's largest ceramics’ brands based in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, said its total revenue for the third quarter remained stable year on year at AED625.7 million.

A specialist in ceramic and gres porcelain wall and floor tiles, tableware, sanitaryware and faucets, RAK Ceramics boasts a capacity to produce 123 million sq m of tiles, 5 million pieces of sanitaryware, 24 million pieces of porcelain tableware and 1 million pieces of faucets per year at its 22 plants across the UAE, India and Bangladesh.
 
Announcing its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, RAK Ceramics said its net profit fell from last year's figures of AED45.6 million to AED34 million due to lower gross profit margins and higher provisions for trade receivables.
Total gross profit margin decreased by -220bps year on year to 31.1% while tiles gross profit margin increased by 130bps year on year to 31.2%.
 
According to RAK Ceramics, the third quarter performance has gained momentum as markets are showing signs of recovery from the impact of Covid-19.
 
The speed and trajectory of demand remains uncertain, however, quarter on quarter revenue has increased by 52.1%, it stated.
Based on growing market demand, production in the UAE has scaled up to meet demand from Saudi Arabia, while production in India and Bangladesh have also resumed in phases.
 
The tableware business continues to suffer due to the impact of the virus on the hospitality and airline sectors, it added.
RAK Ceramics pointed out that the total revenue remained stable and increased by 0.2% year on year driven by growth in Saudi Arabia and Europe. Excluding the tableware business, total revenue increased by 4.8% year on year.
The Emirati group has positioned itself as a premier product supplier in Saudi Arabia, offering differentiated product lines compared to local manufacturers.
Sales improved in the retail channel following the launch of three flagship showrooms. The business continues to roll-out its retail concept through a mix of flagship and dealer owned showrooms across the kingdom, it added.
 
Revenue from Saudi Arabia increased by 95.8% year on year to AED 137.8 million mainly driven by the tiles business.
The imposition of anti-dumping duty on tiles from China and India has been effective since June 2020 and has supported revenue growth during the quarter.
On the results, Group CEO Abdallah Massaad said: "We have begun to see a return to pre-Covid-19 levels of operations across our global business. 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."
"RAK Ceramics has shown great resilience given the disruptions that the pandemic has brought to our business," he stated.
"There is no escaping that our business was heavily impacted earlier in the year, but we are confident in our ability to adapt, recover and deliver value to our shareholders in the long term," said Massaad.
 
"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," he added.-TradeArabia News Service

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