Juhayna Food Industries reported on Wednesday an increase of 268% year-over-year (y-o-y) in consolidated profits for 2017 due to higher revenues. Net profit hit EGP 197.7m in 2017, up from EGP 53.6m a year prior, the company highlighted in a filing to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX). Revenues climbed to EGP 6.06bn in 2017, versus EGP 4.9bn in 2016. On the other hand, standalone profits declined to EGP 142.5m in 2017 from EGP 200.3m the year before. The company's consolidated results for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2017 showed a 17% y-o-y rise in total consolidated revenue to EGP 1.51bn. Net profit reached EGP 47m during Q4 2017, an increase of 141% y-o-y. The highest contributors to the top line are the dairy and yoghurt segments, representing 52% and 20% of revenues in Q4 2017 respectively. As for FY 2017, dairy and yoghurt also remained the highest contributor, representing 48% and 22% respectively. Commenting on its financials in 2017, the company said in a statement, "despite all the challenges the market has experienced in 2017, like high inflation, weakening purchase power, increase in cost of debt, and rise in cost of energy, the company's profitability is attributed to the unprecedented measures the company has taken to overcome these challenges by freezing capital expenditure, closure of uneconomical distribution centres, delisting unprofitable stock keeping units, localisation of input materials, cutting down the workforce, divesting from unproductive assets, focusing on reducing the inventory level to the minimum, and shrinking debts." Going forward, Juhayna is targeting to increase its sales, maintain its market share, improve its margins, reduce costs, and improve efficiency, as well as minimise investment, regulate debt levels, and lessen inventory. "We are confident that Juhayna will overcome the challenges ahead and improve margins to create shareholders value," the statement concluded.
