NDC’s Sohar plant begins operations

The National Detergent Company’s (NDC) newly acquired plant at Sohar has commenced production, the company’s Director and General Manager said. V Sundaresan (pictured) said the first phase of the revamp of its Sohar facility has been completed, with commercial production having commenced in January 2012. “The acquisition of the plant was part of the long-term plans of the company to help gain increased market share for NDC’s products in the coming years,” he said. The Sohar plant will have a capacity of 30,000 tonnes per year which will be used to service both the company's domestic market and its key export markets in the GCC, Africa and the Middle East. Meanwhile, NDC registered sales revenue of RO 20.53 million in 2011 in comparison to RO 18.02 million in 2010, thereby registering a growth of over 14 per cent. The company’s profit from operations during 2011 was RO 1.21 million compared with earnings of RO 1.74 million in 2010. Profit before tax for 2011 was RO 1.10 million in comparison with RO 1.66 million in 2010. The total accumulated profit before appropriation currently stands at RO 2.80 million after tax. Based on the net profit, the board of NDC announced a 40 per cent dividend per share. “The company achieved a higher volume and value sales compared to the previous year due to its aggressive marketing activities and development of new export markets for NDC’s range of products. Our conscious additional investments in brand equity building efforts in the GCC region have also contributed to this achievement,” Sundaresan said. “All our product groups performed well in 2011 in various markets and there was full capacity utilisation of the powder division. NDC’s flagship brand, Bahar, has further improved its market position against multinational brands in the Sultanate due to improved quality and consumer acceptability. Our loyal customers have supported our range of products and have accepted many of the newly launched products,” he said. The General Manager of NDC said the company’s endeavour is to further improve its performance in the coming years by identifying new markets and consolidating its position in the existing markets. “NDC has plans to broaden its product range in the months to come,” he added. NDC is continuing with its efforts to improve Omanisation at various levels of the organisation including the senior and middle levels, with adequate training inputs.