Qalaa Holdings 3Q15 and 9 month results

Qalaa Holdings has released its consolidated financial results for the first nine months of 2015.

Revenues for the quarter ending 30 September 2015 increased by 19% compared to the same period in 2014, coming to EGP 2051.2 million while on a nine-month basis revenue climbed by 31%. Revenue growth was driven by both cement manufacturing arm ASEC Cement and energy distribution business TAQA Arabia. ASEC Holding saw its top line grow 30%, to 2338.6 million tpy. Together the energy and cement divisions contributed 69% of Qalaa Holding’s total revenues in the first nine months of 2015. EBITDA for 3Q15 declined 9% y/y to EGP 214.5 million, the first decline since the start of 2014.

On the restructuring front, Qalaa continues its strategy of divesting non-core investments, with several concluded during the nine-month period. For example, in 2Q15 Qalaa concluded the sale of its 27.5% stake in Misr Cement Qena, while in 4Q15 the company further reduced its exposure to the cement industry with its business unit ASEC Cement divesting its stakes in subsidiaries ASEC Minya Cement and ASEC Ready Mix, amongst others.

“We are pressing ahead with plans to divest assets that will allow us to deleverage and devote maximum attention to high-growth businesses in sectors that are vital to the development of our region such as refining, energy distribution and transportation & logistics,” said Qalaa Holdings Chairman and Founder Ahmed Heikal. “We remain firmly committed to growing our investments in ERC — Egypt’s largest in-progress private-sector megaproject due to begin production in 2017 — and TAQA Arabia which is pursuing exciting new opportunities in gas distribution, electricity generation and renewable energy alike. In parallel we are also looking for opportunities to unlock shareholder value at subsidiaries including ASCOM and Rift Valley Railways that have strong growth outlooks,” he added.

“The sale of ASEC Cement’s Egyptian assets alongside other transactions will fundamentally re-shape Qalaa’s financials, giving more weight on both our income statement and balance sheet to ongoing operations at our energy and mining units and setting the stage for the transformative impact of ERC,” said Qalaa Holdings Co-Founder and Managing Director Hisham El-Khazindar. “The near-full impact of the substantial deleveraging that accompanies these transactions will be felt in our 4Q15 and 1Q16 financials.”

Adapted from press release by Rebecca Bowden

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/africa-middle-east/09122015/qalaa-holdings-3q15-and-9-month-results-150/