Chairman's
Statement

Investing for Strong and Sustainable Growth

Almarai grew into the world’s 11th largest food and beverages company in 2023, thanks to robust organic growth and proactive merger and acquisition activity. The Group’s elevation is a testament to the meticulous implementation of its well-defined corporate strategy, operational excellence, prudent financial management, product and market innovation and commitment to all its stakeholders.

Almarai’s award-winning excellence in providing nutritious and delicious food and beverages continued to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s food security goals and was the momentum behind another year of financial growth, capacity expansion, new product launches and the broadening of the Company’s geographic reach.

Organic and Acquisition Driven Growth to Continue…

As we embark on an even more ambitious program in the coming years to expand our core businesses, move into adjacent product categories and launch in new geographical territories, we are optimistic that Almarai’s commitment to growing financial returns and shareholder value will continue to be achieved.

In line with our commitment to the Government of Saudi Arabia to contribute to delivering Saudi Vision 2030, we advanced our engagement with Shareek, a dedicated program to expedite the growth of Saudi Arabia’s largest companies.

Our Company is primed to become one of the world’s leading food and beverages companies, delivering our trusted quality products and customer service excellence to valued consumers around the globe. As we grow internationally, we remain committed to Saudi Arabia’s food security objectives. Our future investments in state-of-the-art manufacturing and processing facilities will elevate our ability to produce nutritious consumables for the health of the people of Saudi Arabia. Additionally, we will keep contributing to the Saudi Vision 2030’s aim of raising workforce participation by nationals, with our expansion driving more Saudi employment.

Exceptional Delivery of our Corporate Strategy

The positive momentum that emerged in regional and global markets in 2022 continued to gather pace in 2023. Trading conditions in our key markets normalized during the year, and commodity prices stabilized, albeit at higher levels, after a period of unparalleled inflation.

The overall improvement in our business environment and a stronger tourism sector assisted in delivering another excellent financial performance in 2023, driven by the exceptional execution of our corporate strategy.

In addition to achieving financial targets, our ongoing innovation and investment in delivering superb food products won the Company several prestigious awards and the inclusion of L’usine and Alyoum in Brand Finance’s 2023 list of the 10 most powerful brands in Saudi Arabia. Brand Finance also named Almarai the world’s fourth most valuable dairy company.

Additionally, Forbes magazine included Almarai in the list of the top 10 innovative companies in Saudi Arabia in 2023. The quality of our management was also recognized, with Abdullah Albader winning the Okaz Award for the best Chief Executive Officer in Saudi Arabia in 2023. These independent validations consolidated our position as an emerging global food and beverages leader.

Almarai’s primary corporate focus is growing its existing operations in our core categories of Dairy, Juices, Poultry and Bakery in the countries where we currently manufacture, process and distribute. The aim is to build market share in under-indexed categories and entrench our position in those segments where we are the clear leader, taking advantage of the exceptional returns of the GCC markets.

Continuous Enhancement of Corporate Sustainability

The year under review is our sixth of “Doing Better Every Day”, aimed at improving our sustainability metrics. Once again, we remained on track to meet our 25 sustainability targets, which are fully aligned with Saudi Vision 2030 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, while substantially improving transparency.

As a responsible corporate citizen, Almarai is also dedicated to building the skills levels of Saudi people and providing them with meaningful employment opportunities. In 2023, we announced that Almarai would participate in the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development’s national training campaign, providing more than 50,000 employee training opportunities over the next three years.

Almarai supports the Food Industries Polytechnics with the objective of elevating the local workforce. In 2023, Almarai hired almost all the latest graduates of the Institute into various roles, advancing the Saudization plan to encourage greater participation by citizens in Saudi Arabia’s economy.

Almarai is committed to protecting the safety and health of our employees, and I am pleased to report that our commitment was validated by the ISO 45001 Certification for Occupational Health and Safety.

Promising Prospects for 2024

The coming year will be characterized by a greater commitment of time, effort and investment in growing our Company on multiple fronts. As a result, we are confident of an even stronger result in the coming year, supported by volume growth, stabilization of overseas markets and channel expansion, mainly in Foodservice.

Our core business will retain the lion’s share of our growth focus. In our other strategy pillars, new product categories are under development, and we see exciting opportunities to expand our operations in North Africa and the Levant.

Our ongoing focus on financial discipline, digital adoption and innovation will further strengthen our operational competencies and ensure our base platform supports the extensive growth we anticipate.

Acknowledgments

We want to give all thanks to Allah for his blessings. Our Board expresses its immense gratitude to King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud , the Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Al Saud and the Government for their continued support of our business and inspiring leadership as we take our Company to new heights.

To my fellow Board members, your advice and guidance continue to be immeasurable, and I am grateful for your wise counsel. We also appreciate the confidence of our shareholders, who have joined us on our ambitious journey of value creation.

Each day, we strive to deliver the best products to our loyal consumers, and the entire Company thanks them for trusting us.

Finally, Almarai’s remarkable story is testimony to the unstinting efforts of our employees. With their heartfelt commitment to delivering outstanding products and customer service, our Company has continued to excel in delivering market-leading, innovative, nutritious and delicious products to our many consumers.