Moroccan tech tycoon Karim Benjelloun’s stake in Disway, Morocco’s leading technology products distributor and retailer, has lost $2.5 million in market value in the past 54 days due to a sustained decline in the firm’s share price.
Disway, a technology and hardware distributor founded in 2010 by Benjelloun, is a major technology player in the Maghreb region.
Benjelloun, the tech retailer’s general manager, owns 7.36 percent of the company, or 138,822 ordinary shares.
Shares in the Casablanca-based tech firm were worth MAD700 ($67.8) as of press time, unchanged from their opening price this morning, as some investors reassessed their entry positions after shares fell below key technical levels.
Disway’s shares have fallen by 21.3 percent since June 10, nearly 54 weeks ago, from MAD890 ($86.2) to MAD700 ($67.8) at the time of writing this report, owing to the exit of foreign and local investors seeking to reduce their exposure to equities as part of the move to preserve wealth.
As a result of the decline in the group’s share price, the market value of Benjelloun’s 7.36-percent stake in the firm has dropped from MAD123.55 million ($11.97 million) on June 10 to MAD97.18 million ($9.41 million) at the time of writing.
This equates to a loss of MAD26.38 million ($2.55 million) for the leading businessman, who is one of the wealthiest investors on the Casablanca bourse.
While leveraging its robust retail network to reach high-end technology buyers, Disway reported a 5.3-percent increase in revenue from MAD924 million ($90 million) in the first half of 2021 to MAD973 million ($94.9 million) in the first half of 2022,Â
Its revenue in Morocco increased by 6.2 percent to MAD818 million ($80 million) in the first half of 2021, up from MAD770 million ($75.1 million) in the first half of 2021.
