Savola’s net income rise 21% y-o-y in 2023

Savola Group’s net income rose c. 21.1% y-o-y in 2023 to c. SAR 899.2 mn due to higher gross income from its segments, it said in a statement to Tadawul. Its top line dropped 4.3% y-o-y to SAR 26.8 bn in 2023 on the back of falling crude edible oil prices and in FX devaluation in a number of its overseas markets.

Leading the growth: The growth in net income last year came primarily on the back of higher gross income from its food processing, retail and frozen food segments and lower operational costs. This helped offset a higher net finance cost and zakat and income tax expense, according to Savola.

Savola attributed the y-o-y dip in revenues to lower revenues from its food processing segment due to lower crude edible oil prices, FX devaluation in some of its markets abroad, an exit from Morocco and the temporary suspension of operations in Khartoum on the back of the crisis in Sudan.

Q4 in a nutshell: Savola’s net income soared 140% y-o-y in Q4 2023 to SAR 227.1 mn, while revenues were essentially flat — down 0.3% y-o-y to SAR 6.6 bn.