The firm serves 97 percent of the population in the Kingdom in more than 144 cities RIYADH: The CEO of Saudi Arabia’s Nahdi Medical Co. is very ambitious about the future of the firm that operates a large pharmacy chain for four decades. Speaking to Arab News on the morning of its debut on the Kingdom’s stock exchange Tadawul, Yasser Joharji said he wants the firm to become a multinational operator now that it is the largest listing since oil giant Aramco went public in 2019. Nahdi had a market value as high as SR19.5 billion ($5.2 billion) after its shares soared 14.5 percent in Tuesday trading, with the stock closing at SR150. A day later, it extended gains by 5.6 percent to SR158 at trading close, implying a market value as high as SR20.6 billion. “We plan to be a multinational company but we will do that slowly,” Joharji said. Joharji added that with the branches in the UAE, their first market outside of Saudi Arabia, they will serve seven million potential customers, and that will help for future expansion into other markets. “We are taking the first step to build our confidence in going outside Saudi Arabia,” he added. The Jeddah-based giant pharma retailer operates over 1,150 pharmacies across the Kingdom and a rising number in the UAE. Joharji said they will expand into other markets in due course. The firm serves 97 percent of the population in the Kingdom in more than 144 cities, but it only controls 10 percent of the market. “I know that a lot of people think it’s more than that, but it’s 10 percent. It gives us a throughput,” he added. Nahdi had raised $1.36 billion from its IPO, slightly higher than the $1.2 billion sold by ACWA Power a year earlier. The company is very efficient when it comes to cash generation as it has a “light model,” he said, with its Capex around 2.5 percent of revenues. “We don’t see that as changing in the future because that is sufficient for our needs and for our light model,” he concluded. Little tigers Providing medicine and health care products is still the core of what Nahdi is planning to do. Yet, the company is looking at other venues to grow as it has seen major shifts in consumer behavior in post-COVID19 period. “Building new categories like the wellness categories and the nutraceutical, attention. Those categories are growing. I call them the little tigers,” Joharji said. “We’re investing heavily over there to make sure that we have our fair share in the future,” he added. Female Nahdawis Nahdi has more than 6,000 employees who the CEO refers to as “Nahdawis.” “I feel so proud of them. I learn every day from each one of them. When they talk to me, they come up with great ideas and innovations and they share amazing stories about how they go the extra mile to serve our guests in every point that we have,” he added. Among the Nahdawis, there are 900 females and Joharji expects their number to grow as there are big needs for them from the customers. Nahdi opened this month a new smart distribution center in Jeddah that provided more than 200 new jobs, he added. “In the distribution center, there is a big theme. We don’t move boxes, we move beats of hope to our guests.” “In the future we will continue having a beautiful blend between technology and the people because humans are still our key differentiator in the recent smart distribution center,” he said.