Saudi Arabia-based  Savola Group, a leading industrial company, highlighted its record achievements in 2012 during its annual conference held recently in Jeddah.

The summit, under the theme “Focusing, delivering, and growing”, was inaugurated by Dr Abdulraouf Mannaa, Group managing director.

Dr Mannaa expressed his confidence in the support of more than 18,000 Savolans to drive the Group as it takes its next leap forward into a new phase of growth and development.

Muwaffaq Mansour Jamal, CEO of Azizia Panda supermarkets and hypermarkets, began the Retail Sector presentation by stating: “Our vision has always been to be the number one mass market retailer in the region led by our customers and our constant innovation to meet their needs.”

Reporting that Azizia Panda now has 146 stores in Saudi Arabia in 33 cities, Jamal went on to say: “In 2012 every single day we received one million people and our strategy for 2013 is to increase our presence by opening 15 more Panda supermarkets and five HyperPanda offering the best value at the lowest cost in order to keep us number one in public perception.”

Next on the agenda was the Plastics Sector presentation given by Azhar Kenji CEO Savola Plastics Sector.

In his overview he reported that the company has six factories in Jeddah, Riyadh, and Alexandria with a total of 250 production lines and a total annual production capacity of 200,000 metric tonnes.  In 2012 the factories produced 9 million tons of PET, 5 million bottles which were supplied to 32 countries.   Future plans include building another distribution network for Europe and entry into the East Africa market.

The Foods Sector presentation was delivered by Abderrahim Amaaraf, CEO of Savola Foods, who highlighted the impressive growth of Savola’s edible oils, sugar and pasta, noting Savola edible oils continue to dominate the industry regionally and is considered one of the global players.

The guest speaker at the conference was Dr Nabil Hammad, a specialist in strategic thinking and planning, who spoke about the relationships in the workplace between bosses and employees, highlighting the different management styles.

“In 2012 the Savola Group achieved SR1.35 billion ($3.59 million) net operating profit, which is 12.5 per cent higher compared to last year,” Dr Mannaa added.

“Now, in 2013, we are ready for more challenges and more growth.  First of all, we aim to achieve SR1.4 billion net operating profit in 2013 by continuing our organic growth from our core businesses.

“We also aim to grow the Group’s Packaging Sector leveraging its potential and looking beyond the region.  Finally we will continuously seek opportunities to further expand our investment portfolio especially in non-managed businesses.”

The next segment showcased Savola’s corporate social responsibility programs focusing on Makeen, Savola’s Center for Empowering People with Disabilities (Makeen) as well as Savola Global Sustainability Reporting Initiative (GRI) which distributed to the attendees.

A highlight of the event was The Savola Group MD Award for which the nominees gave presentations, after which the conference attendees voted electronically to select the winner.

The 2012 Group MD Award went to Azizia Panda following strong display strength, growth, and an inspiring strategy to become the region’s leading retailer.

This year’s annual conference featured three additional special awards given by the Group MD for three exceptional performances:  Muwaffaq Mansour Jamal, CEO of Panda; Mamoun Al-Dawood, CEO of Savola Beshawar; and Saeed Anwar, project manager in Savola Egypt. – TradeArabia News Service