Egyptian tycoon Safwan Thabet gains $26.7 million as Juhayna Food Industries shares surge

Mfonobong Nsehe -

Egyptian multimillionaire businessman Safwan Thabet has seen the market value of his stake in Egyptian food manufacturer Juhayna Food Industries increase by a whopping EGP419.5 million ($26.7 million) in the past 36 days thanks to a double-digit surge in the company’s shares.

Juhayna is a homegrown company with business interests and investments in the production, processing and packaging of dairy, juice and cooking products. The company operates in five business segments in the food-processing industry and agro-allied segment.

Thabet, who founded the Egypt-based food product manufacturer nearly 38 years ago, owns a majority stake of about 50.07 percent in the company through Pharon Investments Limited.

The recent gain in his stake can be linked to renewed investor buying interest driven by the food manufacturer’s robust financial performance in the first nine months of 2021, as consumer demand strengthened.

The renewed buying interest in the company’s shares caused its share price to rise from EGP6.35 ($0.405) on Nov. 17 to EGP7.24 ($0.461) as of the time of writing this report. This translates to a 14-percent gain for shareholders since Nov. 17.

As a result, the market value of Thabet’s stake surged from EGP3 billion ($190.7 million) on Nov. 17 to EGP3.4 billion ($217.4 million). This led to a EGP419.5-million ($26.7 million) gain for the multimillionaire businessman in the past 36 days.

The surge in the market value of his stake cements his position as one of the richest investors on the Egyptian Stock Exchange.

Since the start of the year, the market value of Thabet’s 50.07-percent stake is up by 22.1 percent, or $39.3 million.

In the first nine months of 2021, Juhayna’s profit in consolidated terms surged by 27.7 percent from EGP384 million ($24.47 million) in 2020 to EGP490 million ($31.22 million) in 2021.

The strong growth in its earnings during the period under review can be linked to a substantial hike in its revenue, spurred by strong demand growth in demand and improved pricing thanks to the diversity of its product portfolio,.