Annual general assembly meeting announces SR14m incentives for employees Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Okaz Organization has netted a record profit of SR113 million in 2011. The profits are not only unprecedented for the organization but are the also the highest ever made by any press organization in the Kingdom. The annual general assembly meeting of Okaz Organization for Press and Publication here Thursday acknowledged the efforts exerted by the Board of Directors and the administrative and editorial staff of the organization's various publications in setting the record. Th meeting was attended among others by Ahmad Muhammad Al-Sumairi, representative of the Ministry of Culture and Information. Dr. Sa'ed Al-Orabi Al-Harithy, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Waleed Arab Hashim, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors, and board members Dr. Hamoud Al-Badr, Abdullah Khayyat, Abdullateef Al-Jabr, Abdullah Saleh Kamel, Dr. Tariq Fad'aq, Hussein Shobokshi; Dr. Hashim Abdu Hashim, Editor-in-Chief of Okaz newspaper and Dr. Waleed Kattan, Director General of the organization were in attendance. Dr. Al-Harithy thanked the board members for their “good and blessed” efforts. These efforts, he said, enabled the organization to achieve unprecedented financial profits. He also thanked the employees of the organization — both management and editorial staff — for their stellar role in the advancement of the company. “Were it not for their efforts, the organization would not have achieved these results,” he said. “This is due to their collective efforts and good intentions which helped make the organization a pioneer in the country,” he said. Waleed Arab Hashim dwelt at length on various sources of the organization's revenue: advertisement, distribution and social networking. He said the revenues for the year under review exceeded SR600 million. Talking about the growth and development of the organization's profits, he said profits have crossed SR1 billion. The Organization's Director General Dr. Waleed Kattan said the record profits were achieved despite many challenges. The emergence of social networking media and its impact on print media has been the biggest challenge, he said. Reviewing the organization's efforts in developing its sources of income, Kattan said 18 percent of the income was generated from advertisements. He enumerated new trends in the organization for electronic publishing and disclosed that the organization has obtained six licenses for new electronic newspapers. Other accomplishments The board members got acquainted with the general financial and administrative situation of the organization and the work and training courses accomplished by different sectors besides the awards won by the organization in various fields. The general assembly meeting approved two-month salary as bonus for the employees. In addition, employees would also get a month's salary during Ramadan and Eid. Various incentives for workers approved by the meeting touched SR14 million
