Alan Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Agthia Group, shares insights

Zawya

18-05-2025

Alan Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Agthia Group, shares insights, highlighting the group's financial performance for the first quarter of 2025.
Agthia Group PJSC - one of the region's leading food and beverage companies, today announced a resilient first-quarter performance, with underlying Group revenue growing by 5.2% year-on-year when excluding the impact of non-recurring factors such as last year's one-off wheat trading activity and the devaluation of the Egyptian pound. This underlying growth highlights the strength and resilience of Agthia's core business amidst a dynamic operating environment.
Despite short-term pressure, Agthia continues to invest in its future allocating AED 25.1 million to capex and AED 129.2 million to increase its stake in Abu Auf raising its share from 70% to 80%, deepening vertical integration in the snacking segment. In May 2025, Agthia strengthened its leadership in the UAE water market through the strategic acquisition of Riviere, a prominent player in home water delivery segment. This milestone move significantly expands our household customer base tripling our reach and deepens our market penetration in a key growth category. said Smith.
In this regard, Alan Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Agthia Group, stated: 'we continue to see strong performance across key verticals. BMB delivered a solid 8.4% growth in revenue, driven by rising exports to the United States and continued consumer demand for its premium snack portfolio. Abu Auf also maintained its growth trajectory, recording a 4.3% revenue increase in AED terms; however, the devaluation of the Egyptian Pound significantly impacted the reported figure, which in local currency terms stood at a notable 48.9%. Excluding the one-off wheat trading activity in Q1 2024, our Agri-Business delivered a solid underlying performance, achieving revenue growth of 2.9%.
The Water and Food segment remained a core contributor, growing 10.6% year-on-year. Within the UAE, water revenues increased by 6.1%, while our international water portfolio showed strong momentum particularly in Turkey, which grew by 9.9%, and Saudi Arabia, where we achieved 4.8% growth. Meanwhile, the Protein segment saw a 15.7% decline in revenue due to continued pressure in the Egyptian market and a temporary slowdown in export sales from Nabil in Jordan. This was partially offset by the growth coming from our new protein facility in Saudi Arabia, which commenced operations in July 2024. Our combined operations, comprising Nabil export from Jordan and our new facility in KSA, delivered a robust 17.2% sales growth within the Kingdom, underscoring the strategic importance of our expansion in this key regional market.'
And commenting on how the US tarrifs would affect Agthia's operation Smith said: While Agthia's direct exposure to the U.S. market remains limited accounting for approximately 1% of our total revenue ongoing trade protectionist measures, particularly tariffs on essential commodities, may pose indirect challenges to global supply chains. As a diversified group operating across multiple segments and geographies, we remain vigilant in monitoring global trade dynamics to proactively address and mitigate any potential cost implications. Our sourcing strategy is built on diversification, trusted supplier partnerships, and a strong regional presence, which collectively grant us the flexibility to navigate fluctuations in commodity pricing and availability. In parallel, we continue to optimize procurement processes, manage inventory efficiently, and explore alternative markets to reinforce our supply chain resilience. Despite potential volatility in global trade, our operational agility and cost discipline ensure that we are well-positioned to uphold the value we deliver to both our shareholders and our consumers.