Bawan targets new high-margin products in 2023, less borrowing: CEO

Mohammed Al Balawi, CEO of Bawan Co.

Bawan Co. will focus on introducing new high-margin products this year, while continuing industry automation, CEO Mohammed Al Balawi told Argaam in a phone call. 

He added that the company will keep a balance between rationalizing cost and raising efficiency. 

The company aims to reduce bank loans in 2023 as much as possible, amid high financing costs, and maintain sound working capital.  

Bawan slashed its average debt by 15% to SAR 594 million in 2022, from SAR 698 million a year earlier.  

“On balance sheet, Bawan does not have a sizeable debt portfolio. We use loans to finance the working capital cycle and requirements,” Al Balawi said.  

He pointed to the actual impact of a 1.7% rise year-on-year in Bawan’s net income for the fourth quarter of 2022, excluding the non-recurring one-off profit of the SAR 15.3 million insurance claim. The claim was received on a fire accident in one of Bawan’s plastics segment factories.  

Moreover, the electrical industries segment reported a net profit of SAR 27.4 million in 2022, compared to nearly SAR 7 million in 2021, the CEO added, citing higher sales volumes and average selling prices on better demand by infrastructure and the Ministry of Housing’s projects.  

Bawan’s net profit slipped 4% to SAR 163 million in 2022, compared to SAR 170.3 million a year earlier. The fourth-quarter earnings stood at SAR 30 million, Argaam reported.