Siniora spices up Jordanian food industry with remarkable performance

AMMAN — 2014 was a distinguished year for Siniora Food Industries Company in all aspects, shareholders were told in the 6th annual report which was disclosed to the Amman Stock Exchange.

Chairman Tareq Omar Al Aqqad wrote in a foreword that sales last year reached JD43.2 million, 13 per cent higher than the JD38.2 million posted in 2013.

The company is in the business of  producing, distributing and selling processed meat products in addition to the import of raw materials.Products  include Cold Cuts, Roast and Luncheon, among others.

The report showed that Jordan accounted for JD20.6 million of the total sales last year whereas sales abroad stood at JD22.6 million.

Although the sales abroad increased by 10.2 per cent, the gross profit generated from the exports was higher by 63.3 per cent as it amounted to JD9.8 million compared to JD6 million gross profit derived from domestic sales.

Exports had the advantage of lower costs which stood at JD12.8 million compared to JD14.5 million in costs for the sales in the local market taking into consideration that the business domestically was JD2.1 million less than the sales abroad.

Aqqad highlighted the Saudi market where the company achieved a 30 per cent growth in sales that exceeded $8 million in 2014.

Sales to other regional markets grew by 14 per cent despite the exports' halt to some neighbouring countries due to unrest.

"What helped us achieve this progress was the growth in all Gulf Arab markets and the launch of new cold cuts in Lebanon," Aqqad said.

He gave a breakdown of the sales pointing out that those under the Unium trademark in Jordan exceeded the 2013 level by 10 per cent , widening the company's market share in the Kingdom to more than 53 per cent of the overall volume of processed meat.

Under the Siniora trademark that specialises in cold cuts, the growth in the Jordanian and Palestinian markets was 7 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

"Thanks to the growth of our sales in the Gulf countries and to the World Food Programme tender for Luncheon supplies, we achieved unprecedented results," the chairman said.

According to the report, Siniora Food Industries enjoys between 25-30 per cent share of export markets depending on the country and the distribution channel.

The export markets were listed as Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, Yemen and Cameroon in west Africa. 

He indicated in the foreword that net profit surged by 62 per cent reaching JD5.4 million, up from JD3.3 million generated in 2013. 

A breakdown of last year's net profit showed that exports brought in JD3.7 million, 117.6 per cent more than the local market which contributed JD1.7 million.

Siniora's gross profit, before deducting selling and administrative expenses as well as financing costs and various provisions, was higher at JD15.9 million from JD12.5 million.

The chairman also mentioned that net shareholders equity in 2014 rose in 2014  by 23.5 per cent to JD25.3 million, compared to JD20.5 million in the previous year.

The company's capital investment at the end of last year amounted to JD19.3 million.

Capitalised at JD15 million after increasing the capital from JD12.6 million last year, the balance sheet as of December 31,2014 showed total assets at JD41.5 million, up from JD39.1 million at the 2nd of 2013.

Of the total, JD19.3 were net fixed assets, JD2.2 million were intangible assets and deferred tax and JD20 million were current assets.

Current liabilities, including JD1.6 million in short term debt, declined from JD10.2 million at the end of 2013 to JD9.3 million last year.

Long-term debt also dropped from JD7.5 million to JD5.9 million in 2014 bringing total liabilities to JD16.2 million when also taking into consideration the provision for end of service indemnity.   

According to the balance sheet, mandatory reserve and retained earnings totalled JD10.3 million from JD7.9 million in 2013.

The Arab Palestinian Investment Company (APIC) controls Siniora Food Industries Company with a 61.2 per cent stake followed by Aram Financial Investment with a 30.3 per cent equity, and Arab Bank MENA Fund with 2.4 per cent.

Around 520 employees work at Siniora's offices and factories in Amman,  Jerusalem, Riyadh and Jeddah noting that the subsidiaries include Siniora Food Industries Palestine and Siniora Saudi Trading Company. 

Siniora Food Industries Algeria is under liquidation.

The company has recently opened a branch in Aqaba in addition to the one in Irbid which was opened in 2010.

The general assembly of shareholders will hold an ordinary meeting today (Tuesday) to consider the distribution of cash dividends at a rate of 10 per cent as recommended by the board of directors.