A production line at Savola Foods in Jeddah

LEADING Saudi industrial firm Savola has said it aims achieve net operating profits of SR1.4 billion ($373 million) this year against SR1.3 billion in 2012.

Savola Group managing director Dr Abdulraouf Mannaa said it will reach its target by continuing with organic growth from its core businesses.

“We also aim to grow the group’s packaging sector leveraging its potential and looking beyond the region. Finally we will continuously seek opportunities to further expand our investment portfolio especially in non-managed businesses.”

Dr Mannaa was speaking at Savola’s annual conference in Jeddah. The theme of the event was “focusing, delivering, and growing.” The MD expressed his confidence in the support of more than 18,000 Savolans to drive the group as it takes its next leap forward into a new phase of growth and development.

Muwaffaq Mansour Jamal, CEO of Azizia Panda supermarkets and hypermarkets, said Azizia Panda now has 146 stores in Saudi Arabia in 33 cities and every day in 2012 the chain received one million people. Fifteen more Panda supermarkets and five HyperPanda outlets will be opened this year.

Azhar Kenji, CEO Savola Plastics, said the company has six factories in Jeddah, Riyadh and Alexandria with a total of 250 production lines and a total annual production capacity of 200,000 tonnes. In 2012 the factories produced 9 million tonnes of PET. Future plans include building another distribution network for Europe and entry into the East Africa market.

Abderrahim Amaaraf, CEO of Savola Foods, highlighted the impressive growth of Savola’s edible oils, sugar and pasta, noting Savola edible oils continue to dominate the industry regionally and are considered one of the global players.

The 2012 Group MD Award went to Azizia Panda following strong display strength, growth and an inspiring strategy to become the region’s leading retailer.

This year’s annual conference featured three additional special awards given by the Group MD. They went to Jamal, Mamoun Al Dawood, CEO of Savola Beshawar, and Saeed Anwar, project manager at Savola Egypt.