Egyptian dairy and juice maker Juhayna Food Industries said on Wednesday it expected full recovery in the production capacity of a factory hit by fire in April before the end of the first quarter of 2011. Fire that broke out at one of Juhayna's factories on Apr. 22 incurred LE 300 million in losses, but the factory was fully insured, Heba Thabet, the firm's associate director for external affairs, said in an interview. The factory's output of yogurt and yogurt-based products represented 25 percent of the firm's total production capacity. "We have recovered 80 percent of the (factory's) original capacity ... before the end of Q1 2011," Thabet said. Juhayna, established in 1983, launched in June Egypt's first initial public offering since 2008. The firm has a paid-up capital of LE 750 million. Its public share offer, worth LE 192 million, was oversubscribed 6.8 times. Juhayna has activities across four segments; farming and dairy farming, manufacturing, logistics and supply chains and distribution. It has a total daily production capacity of 2,500 tons of dairy and juice, and 160 stock-keeping units. Juhayna exports 10 percent of its goods, 80 percent to North Africa and the Middle East and the rest to the United States, Europe and Japan. Thabet said she expected significant growth in Juhayna's domestic market, especially in the dairy segment, given growth in Egypt's 78 million population — estimated at 2 percent annually —and as more Egyptian consumers switch from loose to packaged milk. "One million children are born (in Egypt) every year, so consumption will increase by default," Thabet said. "80 or 85 percent of Egypt's milk production is loose milk ... so how much potential does that give (dairy firms)? The sky's the limit." Thabet said Juhayna was also eyeing expansions in its farming and dairy farming segments, and was looking to expand into new markets in Africa and across the Arab region. "Definitely Africa has a lot of potential ... Africa and the Arab countries," Thabet said. Juhayna has a debt ratio of "less than 50 percent of the capital," Thabet said, without providing a specific figure. The firm made a profit of LE 100.4 million in the first six months of this year, up from LE 29.1 million a year earlier.
