Almarai, the Saudi Arabian dairy processor and food conglomerate, saw its profits fall last year due to higher costs for labour and alfalfa. Announcing full year results for 2019, Almarai said it made pre-tax profits of €465m, which was down 8% on the previous year. The Saudi food giant blamed the fall in profits on higher costs for imported alfalfa, which is the key animal feed for the company’s herd of more than 100,000 dairy cows.

Despite the fall in profits, Almarai reported a 6% increase in sales in 2019 to just under €3.5bn, thanks to healthy sales growth in its home market of Saudi Arabia, but also in Egypt and Kuwait. Operating profits for 2019 fell slightly by 2% to just under €600m, as operating profit margins narrowed to a very strong 17.2%.

Almarai was founded in 1977 as a joint venture between Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Kabeer and Masstock Group Holdings, an Irish farming systems company owned by Paddy and Alistair McGuckian. The group produces over 1bn litres of milk every year.