National Detergent sales revenue rises

02/03/2015 10:03 AST

Muscat: National Detergent Company (NDC) posted sales revenue of OMR23.38 million for the year ended 2014 compared to OMR21.70 million in 2013, registering a positive growth.

The board of one of the leading FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) companies in the Sultanate, has announced a 40 per cent dividend based on the net profit as NDC announced its financial results for the fiscal year ended December 2014.

Consolidated profit from operations for the year was OMR1.13 million as against OMR1.40 million in the previous year. Profit before tax for 2014 was OMR0.91 million as compared to OMR1.19 million in 2013. The reduction in profitability was mainly due to increased manpower cost and other operational expenditure.

Commenting on the year's results, NDC director and chief executive officer V. Sundaresan, said: "The company achieved higher volume and value sales in 2014 as compared to last year despite various challenges faced like increase in manpower and operational costs. Profit before tax was impacted due to increased direct operations costs, increased raw material prices and continued price competition in the marketplace."

"Some of our export markets have registered consistent growth during the year as compared to last year. Our conscious efforts to increase sales and additional investments in brand equity building have contributed to higher sales achievement," he added.

NDC's flagship brand Bahar and all other major products have performed well in local and export markets during the year. The powder and liquid plants in Sohar have become fully operational. Additional capacities of these plants have helped in exploring new markets and tapping available opportunities in the existing markets.

Utilisation of capacities in all the manufacturing plants of NDC was at optimal level. The company is setting up a new non-tower detergent powder plant in Sohar, which will help in improving NDC's presence in detergent powder segment in the years to come.

In 2014, NDC's sulphonation division has also performed well in terms of volume and value sales growth. However, the profitability of the division was under pressure due to unstable and declining raw material prices. Severe price competition and availability of excess capacity in the region also impacted the profitability of the division.

Going forward, NDC will endeavor to maintain profitability with effective control of costs and better product mix focus in the coming years. Despite challenges, the company will continue its efforts to improve sales in local as well as Gulf Cooperation Council markets by identifying new market opportunities and expanding the product range. The capacity expansion in liquid products will help the company in increasing the presence across markets.

Times of Oman