Mezzan Holding debuts on the Kuwait Stock Exchange

11/06/2015 18:14 AST

Mezzan Holding, one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of food, beverage, FMCG, and pharmaceutical products in the Gulf, today debuted on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, trading with the ticker "Mezzan".

Mezzan Holding Vice Chairman, Mohammad Jassim Mohammad Al Wazzan, said, "This is a testament to all the hard work and dedication of owners, managers, and staff over the last 70 years since the late Jassim Al Wazzan started his first small shop. Today we are a 7,500 employee company and our task now is to continue this legacy by delivering consistent growth to our shareholders and meeting our commitments to our customers, our suppliers, our staff and our shareholders."

Mezzan Holding announced Q1 2015 results last month with KWD 52.9 million in revenue, up 10.6 per cent from Q1 2014, and KWD 5.5 million in net profit, up 24.8 per cent from Q1 2014. In 2014, the company reported KWD 182.5 million in revenue, up 28.2 per cent from 2013, and net profit of KWD 16.1 million, up 22.9 per cent from 2013.

Al Wazzan added, "Today, Mezzan Holding brings investors from Kuwait and the Gulf a unique investment opportunity in one of the largest consumer-driven businesses in one of the most defensive, protected and private sectors. The move to list comes after a series of initiatives taken by the company to evolve Mezzan Holding into a public company in a structured, phased, and sustainable approach, turning it from a family institution into a public institution that champions and reflects the strength, legacy, and robustness of Kuwait's private sector." The company distributes over 25,000 Stock Keeping Units (SKU), making it a market leader in terms of SKUs, unit sales, market share, and in terms of share of revenues of total consumer spending in consumer categories served by Mezzan Holding.

Mezzan Holding operates 29 subsidiaries and is operationally structured into two primary business lines: the Food Business Line and the Non-Food Business Line. With both business lines combined, the company manufactures and distributes over 358 leading consumer brands, including consumer favourites such as Kitco chips and snacks, Country Rice, Khazan meat products, Al Wazzan Rice, Al Wazzan Canned Tuna, Aqua Gulf, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Sara Lee, Betty Crocker, and Tabasco. The company is also the exclusive distributor of Starbucks chilled products, Johnson & Johnson, Dettol cleaning products, Kleenex, Listerine, Pif Paf, Huggies, Clearasil, Neutrogena, Zyrtec, Tylenol, Olfen, Mesporin, Gaviscon, and hundreds of other products in Kuwait as well as Red Bull in the UAE.

CPI Financial