JEDDAH, 23 October 2005 — The board of directors of the Saudi Research & Marketing Group (SRMG) has decided to increase the company’s capital from SR600 million to SR700 million, an SRMG statement said yesterday. The board made the decision following a meeting presided over by Prince Faisal ibn Salman, chairman of the board. The directors expressed their satisfaction at the company’s record performance.
Prince Faisal emphasized SRMG’s strong financial position and said: “We are looking forward to achieving better results in the coming years.” He said the group had made qualitative leaps in its various activities during the past nine months.
“The SRMG, which has tremendous potential, achieved a great deal in the areas of publishing, advertising, distribution and printing as well as in organizing economic and media conferences and seminars,” the chairman said. The board meeting reviewed the company’s performance and its activities in publishing, distribution, advertising and printing, the statement said. The board commended the record growth and performance achieved by the company as well as its professional efficiency in the publishing industry. “The success of its strategy has enabled the group to reinforce its position as one of the largest publishing and media houses in the Arab world and the Middle East,” the statement said.
The board expressed optimism that the company would continue its strong performance in the coming years. The meeting appointed Dr. Azzam Al-Dakhil, executive vice president of the group and managing director of the Saudi Research & Publishing Company (SRPC), as a board member. Al-Dakhil thanked the chairman and members of the board for their confidence in naming him a board member.
Al-Dakhil said he looked forward to working with other members in order to achieve better results for the group and its companies.
He emphasized the need for working as a single team to realize the group’s objectives. “The SRMG has been able, through its successful strategy, to restructure its administration and finance as well as to recruit highly professional and efficient manpower for its various activities,” Al-Dakhil said.
Over the past few years, he said the group had achieved major successes. “For example, the Saudi Distribution Company achieved unprecedented results in the distribution of SRPC publications as well as other new publications within the Kingdom,” he pointed out.
“This success was the result of a pivotal plan aimed at increasing sales and opening new outlets to take all publications to every corner of the Kingdom,” he explained.
Al-Khaleejiah Advertising and Public Relations, another affiliate, also achieved remarkable increase in its sales during the period, making it one of the largest advertising companies in the region. Al-Khaleejiah has entered into partnership agreements with a number of companies in the field and created new mechanisms for the advertising market.
The past months have also witnessed SRPC signing strategic agreements with other major players in the region, including Emirates Media and Arab Press Foundation. The SRPC and Dubai Holding established a new company named “Moutamarat” (Conferences), which will play a significant role in organizing regional and international conferences, seminars, forums and exhibitions in the region.
