United Fisheries of Kuwait (UFK) has said acquisition of shares in two food-related companies will enhance its position in the regional food market and enable it to emerge as a more profitable company.

UFK chairman Amer Thiyab Al-Tamimi said recently that UFK planned to become a holding company to include the new subsidiaries – United Danah Fisheries Company and Kuwait United Catering and Restaurant Management Company (KURM) – which UFK acquired in the last quarter of 2006.
Integration would bring benefits including “considerable savings in costs particularly with regard to the service departments in the three companies,” he said.   UFK has purchased all the shares of UDFC and has a 75 per cent stake in KURM. As part of a restructuring effort, new departments have been created and additional staff appointed.
Al-Tamimi announced that the net profit had fallen from KD14.05 million ($48.5 million) in 2005 to KD8.28 million in 2006. The variance was “mainly due to unsual profits in 2005 on partial disinvestments.
Sales witnessed a surge of 13 per cent to KD6.13 million from KD5.43 million in the previous year, which the company acknowledged was due mainly to sales from the merged entities. The asset base expanded 9.5 per cent to KD63 million from KD57.5 million.
Total exports dropped to KD470,625 from KD571,146 in the year before. The company attributed the decline to the “political circumstances prevailing in the region during many months of 2006.”
UFK is seeking a stronger presence in the domestic market by exerting an “extra effort to ensure superior quality that reflects its prominent position in the market.”
“Continuous efforts are made to ensure that our products meet the expectations of consumers and satisfy all tastes by providing large quantities of fresh and frozen fish and shrimps through the co-operative societies and supermarkets,” it said.
“The efforts made by the marketing department contributed to the expansion of our customer base among restaurants, hotels and catering companies.”
The shrimp catch dropped in 2006 to 687 tonnes from 774 tonnes in the previous year. The overall fish catch was 327 tonnes against 316 tonnes in 2005.
UFK is counted among the top food companies in Kuwait. As a vertically integrated seafood company, it is involved in a variety of activities ranging from fishing operations to seafood procesing, marketing, trading and distribution. The company’s fishing activities are carried out from Mina Al Shuwaiba in Kuwait by a fishing fleet which the company says has been continuously updated and modernised in line with technological developments in the fishing industry.
An ISO 9001-2000 and HACCP-certified company, it exports seafood to several countries in the Middle East where it says demand is rising.
The company’s processing plant introduced new value-added breaded shrimps and ready-to-cook shrimp categories. New production lines will be added to the plant, the chairman said. As fishing volumes had dropped, he said the company would invest more in aquaculture.
The company is also making serious efforts to open new markets to achieve wider and more effective export coverage. It launched a marketing and advertising campaign through different media to reinforce its presence in the domestic and foreign markets
The company imported large quantities of fresh and frozen fish and shrimps from China, Vietnam and India in addition to the catch in Iranian territorial waters to make up for the shortfall in local products and in order to stabilise prices.
The company sought several sources of imports rather than having to rely on one source. This approach helped it obtain competitive prices and maintain its ability to cater to the needs of consumers.
“Management adopted a clear vision that recognises the need to enhance performance through development and renovation of the administrative, operational and technical structure of the company thereby maximising efficiency in the various areas of the company’s activities,” a management report said.
“To this end the company’s website was developed to become interactive with customers and serve as an effective tool for introducing the company’s products and activities, thereby enabling customers to place orders and pay invoices through he internet.”