L'AZURDE Company for Jewelry, the largest gold and jewelry designer, manufacturer, distributor and retailer in the Middle East, announced its year-end 2018 financial results. L'azurde operating revenues for the full year of 2018 amounted to SR406.4 million, an increase of 14.4% compared to 2017. This represents an excellent performance against a mixed market backdrop where some challenges remain. In Egypt, L'azurde continued to record strong revenue growth with a 51.2% increase in the wholesale business helped by the recovery in the economy and purchasing power, and revenue growth of 154.1% in retail with the opening of five new shops also supporting the significant increase. Meanwhile in KSA, wholesale revenues declined by 10.9% mainly due to the introduction of VAT, which affected the industry, especially in the first quarter of 2018. However, retail revenues increased by 1.7% reflecting the benefit of two months of revenues from TOUS, having completed the acquisition at the end of October 2018 and the growth at L'azurde's airports retail business as well as the Kenaz kiosks. Gross profit for the year increased by 12.2% to SR244.1 million from SR217.5 million in 2017 due to higher operating revenues. Operating expenses increased by 22.5% to SR174.2 million in 2018 compared to SR142.2 million as a result of higher marketing expenses and higher variable expenses related to higher revenues, in addition to the operating expenses of TOUS from the date of acquisition. Also contributing to operating expenses were the additional costs of the retail expansion in Egypt and additional staff-related costs in KSA including the increases in expat levies.
