www.unitedgroup.com.sa

“WE ACTWITH INTEGRITY”

We are each personally accountable for the highest standards of behavior, includinghonesty and fairness in all aspects of our work. We fulfill our commitments as responsible citizens and employees. We will consistently treat customers and company resources with the respect they deserve.

“Self-trust is the first secret of success.” ~ Ralph Waldo

Emerson

QUARTER IV | 2016

UGNEWSLETTER

NEW YEAR MESSAGE P.2

LACTEL’S SCHOOL ACTIVITY P.5

NEW JOINERS P.7

NEW BORN P.8

“I REMAIN POSITIVE IN THE OUTCOME AS I FEEL WE CAN BECOME A LEANER AND MORE EFFICIENT ORGANIZATION WITH HIGHLY SELECTIVE SET OF CUSTOMERS AND PRODUCTS”

Happy New Year to all of our United Group family. May 2017 be a healthy and prosperous year for you and your loved ones.

As we enter the New Year I want to highlight some internal and external factors that will affect our business going forward.

Internally and while we are no longer an equity partner in UFIC, our commitment and desire for success of the venture continues to be strong and unwavering. Not only are we morally committed to UFIC and Lactalis to support them and give them all the local backing and help they will need, but it is also a strategic objective of our Group to ensure the continued success of UFIC.

Externally and as we all know we will continue to see an increase in the cost of conducting business in Saudi Arabia. We have to be vigilant in addressing these costs and minimizing their impact on our operation. There is no doubt that implementing efficiency and productivity improvements in our operation will reduce the impact of these costs. To that end and throughout our operations, we continue to work hard towards building an efficient and productive structure that can withstand the economic pressures of our business environment.

Once again we are faced with a challenging year ahead of us. I remain positive in the outcome as I feel we can become a leaner and more efficient organization with highly selective set of customers and products. My greatest confidence that we will close 2017 a better company than when we entered this new year is based on my strong faith in our team. I also have the strongest trust that our senior management team will guide this transition as per the plan and produce the strong organization and business model that have charted.

Again I wish you a healthy and successful year.

Ahmad K. Hajj

1. NEW YEAR MESSAGE FROM OUR GROUP VICE CHAIRMAN

3. 17 RESOLUTIONS FOR 2017

2. YOU CAN ARTICLE BY: PHEPHELANI ZONDI

One day I am doing my afternoon jogging on Golf Road in Scottville. I feel a bit down and overburdened in my mind. I’m thinking about my thesis which is not going anywhere. I feel heaviness as I think more about it. At that moment, a Toyota bakkie drives past me. And a few school kids all shout at the same time, “You Can Do It!”

I smile and wave. I start to feel lighter, and my running becomes easier and enjoyable. “I Can Do It”. “I Can Do It!” Now I’m smiling more. The positive energy sent by these kids is working. Even though they were referring to my running, they have just reminded me that “I Can Do It!” I send them a silent prayer and gratitude for lifting up my spirit. And I keep repeating these words behind my head as a mantra, “I Can Do it….I Can Do It!”

When I come across a stressful task or situation I have to face, I sometimes picture the enthusiastic voices of those cheerful angelic young faces shouting, “You Can Do It!”

In life you will come across moments where your heart is overwhelmed. Sometimes you’ll feel stuck. Sometimes you’ll feel like a loser. Unlike me, maybe there will be no kids passing by to spontaneously remind you that “You Can Do It!” In times like these, be your own encourager. Be your own vuvuzela-blower. And simply remind yourself, “You Can Do It!”

1. Leave everything you touch better than you found it.2. Be the most positive person in every room.3. You can motivate by fear, & you can motivate by reward. But both those methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self-motivation.4. Be authentic versus plastic.5. Own beautiful things but don’t let them own you.6. Be bold with business issues & soft with your loved ones.7. Life is meant to be a challenge, because challenges are what make you grow8. Never date a person who’s impolite to waiters.9. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.10. Learn to cook one thing really well.11. You don’t have to win every argument, agree to disagree.12. It’s ok to let your children see you cry.13. Read more books & Play more games.14. Life is too short not to order fries.15. Use the nice sheets, eat with the expensive plates, don’t save them for a special occasion.. It may never come.16. Know that what others think of you is none of your business.17. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

“WE ACT WITH INTEGRITY”

HICHAM ISMAIL Ref: various sources

4. LACTALIS SUCCESS STORY

6. OPENING OF NEW WAREHOUSE IN JEDDAH

United Warehousing and distribution Services shifted their operations to their new warehouse in Khumra - Jeddah where all operations are now consolidated under one roof.The warehouse design and infrastructure is built according to the highest international standards to fulfill the current customer demand in the market. In addition, they have implemented WMS to maintain FEFO and inventory accuracy.

Lactel School Activity has been very successful for reaching out more than 9,500 students including 16 schools from Eastern, Western and Central provinces for the complete activity. We have targeted the kids from 6 to 14 years old with the aim to create favorable image of Lactel in the minds of children through the cow mascot and giving them a fun experience that they would remember and associate a positive attitude towards Lactel.

AMBITION

COLLECTIVE & INDIVIDUALPERFORMANCE,BUSINESS ANDPEOPLEDEVELOPMENT

AMERICAS18.900

employees

EUROPE37.700

employees

AFRICA9.900

employees

ASIA9.900

employees

OCEANIA9.900

employees

ENGAGEMENT

ENTREPRENEURSHIPACCOUNTABILITYLOYALTY

SIMPLICITY

ACCESSIBILITYMODESTYTRANSPARENCYPRAGMATISM

5. LACTEL’S SCHOOL ACTIVITY

7. WHEN WINNING FEELS LIKE LOSING

After the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics, researchers from Cornell University studied the facial expressions of all the athletes who won gold, silver, and bronze medals. They analyzed footage of ceremonies and television interviews and found that gold medalists seemed the happiest. What a shock, right? But they also noticed something surprising: The bronze medalists seemed much happier than the silver medalists. How could athletes who finished third be happier than athletes who finished second? The answer lies in understanding what psychologists call counterfactual thinking, or what the rest of us call, “Wait; if only...” In simple terms (handily enough the only terms I understand), counterfactual thinking occurs when we imagine how things might have turned out. When something happens -- especially something significant -- we think about alternatives to our current reality in order to place that event in context. Counterfactual thinking sometimes makes us feel good about where we are in comparison to where we could be. And sometimes it makes us feel worse. Either way, we do a lot of comparing: Between where we are and where we could have been... both positively and negatively.

(cont’d)

“WE ACT WITH INTEGRITY”

MAHMOUD JAALOUK-Riyadh

MAHMOUD JAALOUK-Riyadh

ESSAMDARWISH-Khobar

ESSAMDARWISH-Khobar

MIGUEL FERNANDO GARCIA

MARKETING DIRECTOR (UFIC)

AHMED HEGAZY IBRAHIM

CASH VAN SALESMAN (UFIC)

ABDELRAHMAN ABDELKHALEK HASHEM

CASH VAN SALESMAN (UFIC)

JONATHAN RODRIGUEZ ORAIZ

MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN (UWDS)

ABDELRAHMAN MOHAMED HAMZA

CASH VAN SALESMAN (UFIC)

AHMED SAMIR ALI

CASH VAN SALESMAN (UFIC)

SHERWIN TIBAY ARCANO

MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN (UWDS)

AMR AHMED KANDIL

CASH VAN SUPERVISOR (UFIC)

AHMED SALEH ELARABY

SALES REPRESENTATIVE (UFIC)

RABIH RAYDAN

SALES SUPERVISOR (UFIC)

HAFIZ ABAIDULLAH ASAD

ACCOUNTANT (UFIC)

MOATAZ ABDELALIM

BEVERAGE SPECIALIST (AL DIYAFA)

BACHAR BOU ABBASS

KEY ACCOUNTS MANAGER (AL DIYAFA)

FADI IBRAHIM QUDAIH

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE (UTC - FS)

BASSEM ELDERINI-Khobar

ESSAMHINDY-Khobar

HATEMABULKALAM-South

AHMED BAHAA-Khobar

AHMED BAHAA-Khobar

AHMED BAHAA-Khobar

OSAMA REMAWI-Jeddah

MOHAMMED ASFAR-Riyadh

MOHAMED ABDULHAMIDMOUSTAFA-Khobar

ISSAM JAMALABUHALTAM -Jeddah

HAITHAMAHMED-Khobar

AHMED ABOUBAKR ELYASSER-Khobar

ALI AHMAD ELKHAYYAT-Jeddah

ALI MOHAMED ALSAKKAF-Khobar

7. WHEN WINNING FEELS LIKE LOSING (cont’d)

8. NEW JOINERS

9. WE HAVE A WINNER

We wish all the luck to the new employees who joined our group, Good Luck!

So take the silver medalists: They used an upper counterfactual, meaning they judged themselves in comparison to the gold medalists. As a result their, “Wait... but what if?” questions fell along the lines of, “Wait; if only I had just trained harder... then I might have won a gold medal,” or, “Wait; if only I had just gotten a little better start... then I could have finished first.”

Silver medalists tended to dwell on what they could have done differently to win the gold. Contrast that with the bronze medalists. They used a downward counterfactual, meaning they judged themselves in comparison to all of the people who didn’t win any medal. By comparing themselves to what could have been -- no medal at all -- the bronze medalists felt thrilled just to be standing on the podium.

And that made them seem happier than the silver medalists.

Mohamed MustafaRef: Inc. Magazine

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“WE ACT WITH INTEGRITY”

Our colleague Ghaith Samhoun is blessed with a lovely baby Boy, Jude.

Congratulations!!! Ghaith and wishing baby Jude a great life full of health and happiness.

Our colleague Mohammad Asrarullah is blessed with a lovely baby Girl, Aayesha.

Congratulations!!! Moham-mad and wishing baby Aayesha a great life full of health and happiness.

FIND THE RIGHT WAY

“THE SUPREME QUALITY FOR LEADER-SHIP IS UNQUESTIONABLY INTEGRITY. WITHOUT IT, NO REAL SUCCESS IS POS-SIBLE, NO MATTER WHETHER IT IS ON A SECTION GANG, A FOOTBALL FIELD, IN AN ARMY, OR IN AN OFFICE. “DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

1. Make 42 out of 2, 3, 4, and 9

2. Make 4 out of 2, 5, 6, and 8

3. Make 40 out of 4, 6, 8, and 8.

“HVL VMKZQ CZUL VZN FQL CLZPPD LYYLUHX-AL BLZIFQ, ZQO HVZH XN PZMTVHLC.” -- KZCR HBZXQ

HINT : H stands for T | L stands for E

Word puzzle: “THE HUMAN RACE HAS ONE REALLY EFFECTIVE WEAPON, AND THAT IS LAUGHTER.” -- MARK TWAIN

DID YOU KNOW THAT CHEWING GUM WHILE PEEL-ING ONIONS WILL KEEP YOU FROM CRYING.

I NEVER WAS, AM ALWAYS TO BE,NO ONE EVER SAW ME, NOR EVER WILL,AND YET I AM THE CONFIDENCE OF ALLTO LIVE AND BREATHE ON THIS TERRESTRIAL BALL.WHAT AM I?

CODE WORD SCRAMBLED EQUATIONS

WORD PUZZLE

10. NEW BORN

GOOD TO KNOW

RIDDLE

Scrambeled equations 1.(9 × 4) + (2 × 3) | 2. 6 + 8 - (2 × 5) | 3. (8 × 8) - (4 × 6)

Riddle : Tomorrow“WE ACT WITH INTEGRITY”