Doha: Al Meera Consumer Goods Company’s (Al Meera) Annual Ordinary General Assembly has approved Board’s recommendation to distribute cash dividends amounting to 90 percent of the nominal value of the shares, equivalent to QR0.90 per share.
The AGM was held virtually at its head office in Qatar Tower, West Bay, in the presence of Abdulla Abdulaziz Turki Al Subaie, Chairman of the Board of Directors, as well as members of the Board of Directors, shareholders and investors. During the AGM, all items on the agenda were discussed and approved.
Plans are afoot to open more than four new Al Meera branches as well as expand digitally by further developing the newly launched e-commerce platform, Al Meera Online, by enhancing its capabilities to serve more localities in the country.
Abdulla Abdulaziz Turki Al Subaie, said, “Al Meera’s strong performance in the market last year is a culmination of its leading role in the FMCG sector as the national retailer of Qatar. Amongst managing consumer confidence in the face of an ongoing pandemic, economic activity was spurred by maintaining fully-stocked branches in neighbourhoods across the county with uninterrupted expansion plans, and continuous improvement across operations”.
“Al Meera’s agility in responding to market needs and customer demands, a drive to create safer and efficient retail stores and a unique business model continue to bring prominence as the country’s favourite neighbourhood retailer,” he said.
“Moreover, we remain committed to our role in advancing Qatar’s social, economic, health and environmental well-being, emboldened by our efforts to serve the interests of our shareholders and stakeholders. Throughout our endeavours, we appreciate the collective efforts of our Board of Directors, management, and employees in contributing to the overall growth of the company,” he added.
Al Meera is constantly upgrading its services to meet the needs of its continuously evolving customers. In line with this, new products will be introduced in the product mix, especially in the increasingly popular organic section. Extensive plans remain underway for renovating and rebranding at select branches to enhance the shopping experience. Additionally, customers can also look forward to improvements on Meera Rewards with mobile application updates, and promotions, raffles, upgrades, offers, and local partnerships.
For the year ended December 31, 2020, Al Meera recorded consolidated sales of QR3.4bn. Gross profit increased 14.2% over 2019 to QR592.1m. Group gross shops rental income amounted to QR65.1m. The net profit attributable to shareholders increased to QR209m, an increase of QR22.5m, or 12.1 percent, compared to 2019. Earnings per share improved to QR1.05, compared to QR0.93 reported in 2019.
