Almarai Revenue Jumps 11% to SAR 6.19 Billion, but Costs Hold Profit Growth to 1%

Almarai's third-quarter revenue rose 11% to SAR 6.19 billion as higher poultry volumes, stronger dairy sales in Egypt and a recently acquired water business expanded sales across the Middle East and North Africa.

Profit barely moved. The Saudi food group reported net income of SAR 617.8 million, only 1% above the SAR 613.2 million earned a year earlier. Higher feed-shipping, distribution and energy costs absorbed most of the benefit from the extra sales.

The contrast matters beyond a single set of accounts. Almarai runs a vertically integrated system spanning farms, processing plants, cold storage and distribution. Its results show how a large food producer can sell substantially more while logistics and input costs prevent that growth from flowing through to profit at the same rate.

Sales grew faster than earnings

Revenue increased by SAR 640 million from SAR 5.55 billion in the third quarter of 2025. Net profit rose by just SAR 4.6 million. Based on the reported figures, Almarai's quarterly net margin slipped from about 11.0% to about 10.0%, a decline of roughly one percentage point.

That margin calculation is Agrilinkage's analysis of the company's published revenue and profit. It does not mean the business became unprofitable. It shows that each riyal of sales produced less bottom-line profit than it did in the same quarter last year.

For the first nine months of 2026, revenue reached SAR 18.22 billion, up 10% from SAR 16.61 billion. Net profit was broadly unchanged at SAR 1.99 billion. The nine-month figures reinforce the same message: demand and capacity are lifting the top line, but cost pressure is limiting earnings growth.

Poultry capacity helped volume but added pressure

Almarai said higher poultry volumes followed recent capacity expansion. New production capacity can raise sales before it reaches its most efficient operating rate, because staffing, commissioning, energy use and distribution must scale ahead of full utilization.

The company reported that its protein category made a lower contribution to net profit than a year earlier. It attributed that decline to poultry-market supply conditions, higher distribution costs linked to energy prices and ramp-up costs.

This is an important distinction for food-market readers. More poultry output can strengthen supply and give retailers additional volume, but a larger supply base does not automatically produce higher margins for the processor. Market pricing, feed movement, cold-chain expenses and plant utilization all affect the result.

Dairy and juice performed more strongly, helped by sustained demand, a better sales mix and improved dairy sales in Egypt. Bakery results also improved as Almarai emphasized product mix, new products and cost control.

The water acquisition and a wider regional strategy

The quarter also included a contribution from Almarai's acquired water business. The company did not separate the acquisition's revenue in its public summary, so the exact amount of growth coming from that asset cannot be calculated from the announcement alone.

What is clear is that Almarai's growth is becoming broader than traditional dairy. Poultry, bakery, juice, water and operations in markets such as Egypt are increasingly important to the group's scale and to the way it spreads production and distribution costs.

The company's board has separately approved a 2026-2031 growth strategy intended to widen consumer choice, strengthen supply-chain resilience and support local manufacturing. Almarai has not yet disclosed enough new numerical detail in that announcement to measure the strategy's future capacity or capital requirements.

What the results mean for consumers and suppliers

For consumers, the results do not predict an immediate price increase or reduction. They do show that energy, transport and feed-shipping costs remain material even for one of the region's largest integrated food producers. If those costs persist, food companies must offset them through pricing, productivity, sales mix or greater plant utilization.

For suppliers and logistics operators, the 11% revenue increase points to more product moving through Almarai's system. Poultry expansion and the water acquisition create demand for packaging, refrigeration, warehousing, fleet capacity, feed logistics and maintenance, even though the company has not published a procurement forecast with these results.

The central takeaway is therefore not simply that Almarai grew. It is that its operating system is moving more food through more categories, while the cost of moving and producing that food is consuming much of the financial gain. Future quarters will show whether new capacity and cost-control measures can restore stronger profit growth.