Saudi Paper Manufacturing Co.’s decision to increase its capital gives confidence in its financial position and confirms the strength of its financial position, said CEO Yousri Al-Bishri.
In a statement to CNBC Arabia, the top executive indicated that the company is working to increase its capital for the third time in a short period, adding that the two previous increases came because the company needed liquidity after rescheduling its debts with banks to finance its expansions.
The situation was different with regard to the increase this time, as the company’s financial situation is currently much better and the financial results in the past years confirm this, as evident in the increase in sales and market share, while the company’s expansions yielded positive results, he added.
The company’s debts amounted to SAR 491 million during the period 2020-2022, of which SAR 342 million were long-term and SAR 149 million were short-term – working capital. During 2023, debts worth SAR 100 million were repaid, so that the debts were slashed to SAR 392 million, according to the CEO.
He added that SAR 70 million were paid as special expansions for the machine, which will add 60,000 tons, and facilities worth SAR 90 million were opened to secure raw materials, especially in light of the tensions in the Red Sea.
As for interest rates, Al-Bishri said that the increase in interest rates last year increased the company’s burden by SAR 14 million, but it was able to absorb this increase.
Al-Bishri added that Saudi Paper is on a solid path and statistics confirm that it is the most popular and first in terms of market share, adding that it has also reached the highest level of sales and profitability in its history, which will be announced soon.
The company’s liquidity currently amounts to SAR 137 million, while the production capacity is 130,000 tons, which is the largest in the Middle East. All machines are operating at maximum capacity and are covered by confirmed orders, and the company also has many external orders, especially after modifying the products and adding improvements to quality.
A total of 60,000 tons will likely enter the company’s production, which will greatly help it reduce its costs and improve its profitability, said the CEO, expecting very high growth rates compared to previous years.
He pointed out that there is an increasing demand from Iraq, Yemen, Kuwait, UAE and Qatar, indicating that the expansion of conversion factories in Kuwait has begun to bear fruit and it is expected that the company’s profit in Kuwait will double.
According to data available to Argaam, the Capital Market Authority approved yesterday the company’s request to increase its capital from SAR 337 million to SAR 370.7 million through bonus share distribution.
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