Egyptian auto mogul Raouf Ghabbour’s shares in GB Auto decline by $21 million

Multimillionaire Raouf Ghabbour has seen his stake in Egypt’s leading automotive company Ghabbour Auto (GB Auto) decline by $21 million since April 1, Reuters reported.

GB Auto is a member of Ghabbour Group.

The drop in the value of his stake was triggered by a 12.6-percent decline in the GB Auto share price on the Egyptian Stock Exchange, as the company moved to reduce its exposure to financial risk by selling its stake in MNT Investments BV to de-risk its business.

MNT Investments BV is a holding that controls Egyptian consumer finance companies.

GB Auto sold five percent of its shares for $22.4 million (EGP352.7 million).

The company’s shares have declined by more than 12 percent since April 1, leading to a market value loss of $22.4 million for Ghabbour and his family. The family has about 62.89 percent of GB Auto’s shares since Dec. 31, 2020.

As of the drafting of this report at 2:20 pm, WAT, GB Auto’s shares were trading at $0.21 (EGP3.34), putting the company’s market capitalization at $232 million (EGP3.6 billion).

Compared to GB Auto’s 52-week high price of $0.27 (EGP4.24), the shares were down by more than 21 percent.

Ghabbour founded Ghabbour Group in 1985 and has since grown it into a leading automotive assembler and distributor in the Middle East and North Africa.

Its main activities are trading, distributing and marketing vehicles, including heavy trucks, semi-trucks, passenger cars, buses, agriculture tractors and pick-ups. In 2020, the company posted a net profit of $71 million (EGP1.11 billion) compared to $14.3 million (EGP223.5 million) the previous year.