Food & beverage

The Company

NCA Rouiba was created in 1966 and began its activities with the production of canned food. Twenty years later the company began producing fruit-based beverages before expanding operations to ultra-high temperature processed milk in 2004. In 2005 the company opened up its capital to a foreign investment fund, AfricInvest, and implemented a programme of upgrades and development.

In 2007 NCA Rouiba received funding from the European Investment Bank within the framework of a financial stabilisation programme. The company then decided to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in 2013, thereby allowing AfricInvest to partially withdraw from its investment in NCA Rouiba. Shares were subsequently listed on the Algiers Stock Exchange in June 2013. In December 2014, Algerian conglomerate Cevital made an offer to purchase 15.6% of NCA Rouiba, which is the remainder of AfricInvest’s share. At time of print, this offer has been submitted to the capital market authority and is awaiting approval.

In terms of activity, the company posted strong performance in FY 2013. Revenues increased by 6.5% year-on-year (y-o-y), while the company’s net earnings were up 4% y-o-y, compared to the 3% y-o-y growth witnessed in 2012. NCA Rouiba’s net earnings per share were also up over the year, to AD27 (€0.25), a 35% increase over the AD20 (€0.19) seen in 2012.

Meanwhile, NCA Rouiba achieved a sales volume of 85m litres in 2013, a 5% increase from 2012. Carton-packaged products accounted for 91% of total sales for the year, with NCA Rouiba’s plants producing a combined total of more than 235m units between its carton and Tetra Pak segments. The launch of a new range of 10 fruit juices has also helped boost revenue.

Development Strategy

NCA Rouiba’s strategic priorities were outlined in its IPO memorandum and these focus on a few core goals. Firstly, the company will increase its in-house production capacity for the carton segment, in addition to the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) segment, which has been experiencing steady growth and growing popularity over the past few years. Indeed, the PET segment has directly driven group performance in the year-to-date 2014, with sales in the segment up by 82%.

With €22 in investments spread out between 2014 and 2015, the company has demonstrated its commitment to reinforcing its production capacity. NCA Rouiba acquired a neighbouring site in an effort to double the size of its current production facility and combine several external storage and warehousing centres. The expansion will also allow the company to boost production and resize its logistic platform in order to accommodate larger volumes.

NCA Rouiba plans to reinforce the development of the PET segment through the introduction of several new flavours and packages, as well as the launch of the Rouiba Junior brand, bolstering growth in the carton segment. The company is also dedicated to improving warehousing and quality standards; while, from a human resources perspective, there is an ongoing drive to consolidate and widen the sales force to reach more categories of the population.

The company is looking to substantially develop its exports, notably to other countries in the Maghreb region. NCA Rouiba is working to increase its exports dramatically, from roughly 1% of sales at present, to 10% within a few years’ time. Indeed, the company has already started selling products in Tunisian supermarkets and plans to further extend its footprint across sub-Saharan Africa on the back of successful container exports to Côte d'Ivoire, Mali and Niger.

NCA Rouiba will also take on the management of five currently unused fruit and vegetable processing plants near Cotonou, Benin, through a management lease contract. The company sees the area as a gateway to Nigeria’s 170m-customer market. NCA Rouiba hopes to position itself in the region, though it plans to study the full value chain – including logistics, raw materials collection, personnel, and domestic and export channels – before making further investments.