Savola Net Profit Falls 67% as Retail Segment Swings to a Loss
Third-quarter revenue edged up 1.5% to SAR 6.5 billion, but a Panda net loss and the absence of a SAR 247 million zakat reversal pulled profit down.
Savola Group reported third-quarter net profit of SAR 128.49 million ($34.2 million) on Thursday, a 66.7% fall from SAR 385.56 million ($102.6 million) a year earlier.
Revenue rose 1.5% to SAR 6.5 billion ($1.74 billion) from SAR 6.45 billion ($1.7 billion). Operational profit was almost unchanged at SAR 267.32 million ($71.2 million), against SAR 270.1 million ($71.9 million) in the 2025 quarter.
Retail loss and a one-off base effect
Two items explain most of the gap. The retail segment posted a net loss of SAR 18 million ($4.8 million). And the year-earlier figure included a SAR 247 million ($65.9 million) reversal of prior-year zakat accruals, net of related expenses, that was not repeated. Lower finance income also weighed on the result.
Savola attributed the retail performance to a "highly competitive market" in Saudi Arabia for Panda. The chain's quarterly revenue was SAR 8.5 billion ($2.3 billion).
Food processing leads, food services turns around
Food processing net profit climbed 31% to SAR 141 million ($37.6 million) from SAR 107 million ($28.5 million), driven mainly by higher revenue.
Food services posted a net profit of SAR 3 million ($0.8 million), reversing a loss of SAR 48 million ($12.8 million). Improved operational performance drove the swing, and the 2025 quarter had carried a SAR 36 million ($9.6 million) non-recurring net impairment charge on certain non-current assets.
Frozen food earned SAR 9 million ($2.4 million), up from SAR 8 million ($2.1 million).
Edible oils supplied the revenue growth, on higher volumes and commodity prices, with food services and frozen food adding to it. Sugar cut the other way: lower prices and volumes there partly offset the gains elsewhere in the group.
Total comprehensive income attributable to shareholders dropped 79.1% to SAR 86.22 million ($23 million) from SAR 413.06 million ($109.96 million).
The shares fell 5.37% to SAR 23.61 ($6.29) by 12pm AST on Thursday, following publication of the results on the Saudi stock exchange.
Sameh Mahmoud Hassan, the group chief executive, placed seventh in the food and agriculture category of a 2026 ranking of Middle East sustainability leaders. Chairman Sulaiman Al Muhaidib was 18th on a 2026 list of the world's richest Arabs, with a net worth of $2.2 billion as of November 5, 2026.
Strip out the one-offs and the quarter reads less dramatically. Operating profit of SAR 267.32 million against net profit of SAR 128.49 million shows how much of the headline number now depends on lines below operations, from finance income to zakat and impairments. Retail is the piece with the most room to move it. Panda trades in a grocery market the company itself calls highly competitive, and a segment that can swing from profit to loss on pricing carries more influence over group earnings than its revenue alone would suggest. The food processing gain, meanwhile, leaned on commodity prices, a source of support that can reverse as easily as it arrived.
