Poulina Group Holding is one of the most important Tunisian groups, through the years and since its creation in 1960, the group was led skillfully by its Managing Director Abdelwahab Ben Ayad. 2008 is a milestone for the group since it is the year of its introduction in the Tunis Stock Market, exactly on June 24th 2008. An introduction which held the attention of all the media in Tunis as it is about the introduction of a group with a social capital of 166.670.000 DT. Just before a world financial crisis involving every one without exception, the group answered the request of the Association of the Stock Market Brokers. The management made a financial communication about the group in the presence of journalists and brokers.
The diversity of the Group activity, an important pledge of security.
The Group Poulina Holding is an active group in the area of aviculture (manufacturinf, storage and marketing of animal food products. The egg chicken production and distribution, agro-food and services, via the manufacturing and marketing of ice creams, margarine, oriental cakes and pastries. The Group has also diversified its activities and expanded to public infrastructure works, computing services, trade (import/export), distribution, as well as industry (Production and marketing of metal products, wood), in addition to the production of household devices, ceramics (manufacturing of ceramic tiles, construction materials & brickyard equipment). The Group Poulina is also active in the real estate through real estate promotion, sales, import and marketing of construction components and accessories.
A growing Turnover, with positive indicators in the various sectors
Over the first nine months of the year, the Turnover of the Group Poulina Holding, registered a growth of 36% and the gross exploitation result incrased by 16% compared to the same period in 2007. The group diversification helped to have a result in line with forecast. According to the Group management, the delay in several new realizations was balanced with over-performance in other sectors. Despite important variations in raw material prices (cereals, oil, steel, wood etc.), the total Gross Exploitation Result is in line with forecast. The invoicing of the companies Maghreb Industrie & Ettaamir registering a delay will be covered by the end of 2008. From January 1st to September 30th 2008, the Group Turnover stood at 733.240 MDT, it was only 539.172 MDT during the first nine months in 2007. This 100% realization rate in the period helped to increase forecasts until December 31st 2008 to 971.251 MDT. As to the GER of the Group, it increased, from January 1st to September 30th 2008, from 91.149 MDT to 106.145 MDT during the same period in 2008. It progressed and allowed a realization of 101% in the period, and allowing to forecast, until 31/12/2008, 150.488 MDT. These positive rates of the Group helped to decrease the general debt of the Group relating to all the activities of the Group by about 28%, dropping from 376.8 MDT in 2007, to 272.2 MDT until 30/09/2008. According to the Group management, the improvement in the financial endebtedness of the Group is mainly the result of the increase in capital when introduced in the Stock Market.
The agro-food and the industry, the true strengths
The activity of the Agro-food and services poles of the Group were affected by the rise in the oil prices, sesame and milk, which altered the sector performance. The Turnover of this sector increased by 70%, from 70.161MDT, to 119.1 MDT during the first nine months of 2008. From the 4th quarter, the decrease in the oil prices should impact positively the year 2009. The industrial activity of the GPH increased by about 25%, with a Turnover rising from 117.9 MDT during the nine first months of 2007, to 147.3 MDT during the same period in 2008. Thanks to very good purchases during the first three quarters, the Group reached the forecast annual Gross Exploitation Result. With only 8% evolution rate, the ceramic pole of the group is considered as one of the most positive activities of the group. The Turnover in this sector increased from 47.4 MDT during the first nine months of 2007 to 51.1 MDT during the first nine months of this year. The lack in the realizations of the Turnover and the GER can be explained by, according to A Ben Ayyed and his collaborators, the 3 month delay in the introduction in the Stock Market of the new ceramic factory in Libya. However, they confirm, the total capacity of the group ceramic production will increase by 52%, from 25000m2/day in the beginning of January 2008 to 38000m2/day by the end of 2008, this increase will contribute to the result of the pole only starting from 2009. Other information given by the management of the Group to explain this low growth rate is the discrepency in invoicing of the company Maghreb Industrie of about 5,6 million dinars on brickyard to Libya.
The realisations of the PGH to the third quarter are in line with the forecasts announced in the business plan despite the leaps of the international market and which were attenuated thanks to diversity in the Group activity. The great volatility of the raw material and the currency markets due to the international conjecture, will have an impact on the result of the 4th quarter which is difficult to assess. In order to curb this impact at best, GPH was obliged to take buying positions on steel, oil, corn and soya. We should note that PGH has always had good results in such circumstances thanks to its diversified activities.
