Dubai, UAE — Saudi Arabian food and retail investment holding company Savola Group has posted a net profit of SAR392.7 million ($104 million) in Q1 2023, a 45 percent increase from SAR270.9 million in Q1 2022.
In a Tadawul disclosure, Savola attributed the growth in profit to higher share of profits from associates, capital gain of SAR18.5 million from disposal of investment in Savola Morocco Company and refund of custom duty from regulatory authority in the kingdom having a net impact of SAR23.3 million.
The net profit was up despite higher operating expenses, higher net finance cost and higher zakat and income tax expenses.
The Group reported revenues of SAR 7.8 billion during Q1 2023 compared to SAR 7.5 billion for the same quarter last year, a 4.3 percent increase.
Revenues increased in the Retail, Food Processing and Frozen Food segments by 11 percent, 2 percent and 15 percent, respectively, while revenues decreased in the Food Services segment by 16 percent compared to the same period in the previous year.
The increase in revenue in the retail segment is mainly due to increase in sales transactions, Savola said.