Orascom Telecom swings to Q1 loss
Egypt’s Orascom Telecom Holding said yesterday it swung to a first quarter net loss as foreign exchange losses and impairment of certain assets impacted.
The mobile operator which is controlled by the Russian telecoms operator VimpelCom Ltd, said in a statement on its website that it made a net loss before minority interests of $204mn compared with a net profit of $120mn in the year ago period.
The results came below most analyst expectations. EFG Hermes had predicted a net profit of $60mn, while Beltone had pencilled in a net loss of $139mn for the period.
The company said the loss was mainly pushed by the “adverse impact of foreign exchange losses of $173mn and the impairment of some assets held for sale by $58mn, as to reflect the fair value of our operations in CAR (Central African Republic) and Burundi.”
The telco said revenues fell 5.6% year on year in the first quarter of 2013 to $849mn, and cited “regulatory and governmental” actions beyond its control for the drop.
Beltone Financial said in a note that Orascom’s revenues “were down in all the company’s operations affected by regulatory decisions in Bangladesh, the ongoing ban in Algeria which affected competitiveness through the quarter, as well as the political and economic unrest in Pakistan.”
Union Properties
Dubai developer Union Properties reported a 2.2% drop in first-quarter net profit on Wednesday due to a slump in housing sales.
The Dubai-listed firm made a first quarter net profit of 21.9mn dirhams ($5.96mn), it said in a bourse statement, slightly lower than 22.4mn dirhams it posted in the corresponding period last year.
Revenue from sales of homes and property management plunged to 25.8mn dirhams from 159.8mn dirhams in the prior-year period.
However expenses reduced to 24.6mn dirhams from 35.1mn dirhams in the year ago period.
The company was one of many property firms in Dubai that were hit by a property market collapse in 2009-10, which saw home prices plunging by more than half and a large number of projects being put on hold.
Renaissance
Oman’s Renaissance Services yesterday said that its first-quarter profit sharply rose mainly on the back of growth in its marine operations.
The multi-line conglomerate said in its financial statement posted on the Muscat bourse website that net profit soared to 3.81mn Omani rials ($9.88mn) in the first quarter, from 782,000 rials in the year earlier period.
Chairman Samir Fancy said in a separate statement that the growth in total turnover was mainly driven by revenue from the company’s marine oil vessel business which has offset a decline in its contracting operations.
Total turnover rose 15% to 68.24mn rials from 59.21mn rials in the first quarter of 2012, according to the financial statement.
Fancy also said that his company is exploring a number of divestment initiatives of some of its subsidiaries.
Depa
Depa said there are signs that the interior contracting market is recovering, but it remains cautious about the projects it takes on, as the Dubai-based firm swung to a first-quarter net profit. “We have seen a strong start to the year and are making good progress especially in our contracting business in the Gulf countries, most notably Saudi Arabia,” said Mohannad Sweid, the chief executive of Depa said in an e-mailed statement. “Over the past few years we have positioned the business ready for a recovering market and we are seeing a rise in the number of projects for tender.”
Depa said first quarter net profit before non-controlling interests was 12mn UAE dirhams ($3.3mn), compared with a loss of 9mn dirhams a year ago. Revenues in the same period jumped 18% to 446mn dirhams.
TMG
Property developer Talaat Moustafa Group has posted a 20% fall in first quarter profit.
Its three-month net profit was 139.4mn Egyptian pounds ($20mn), down from 173.7mn pounds a year earlier, TMG said in a statement posted on the Cairo stock exchange.
“A major factor that affected the profitability of the company was the legal case of Madinaty with regards to the dispute over the land value in 2012,” said Ayman Sami, head of Jones Lang Lasalle in Cairo.
TMG has been involved in a land dispute with the Egyptian authorities for more than two years. There is still an ongoing case challenging TMG’s ownership of Madinaty in New Cairo, one of the company’s biggest assets.