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Orascom Financial Holding (OFH), a technology-driven financial services investment company led by the Sawiris family, reported losses in excess of $12 million at the end of the first half of 2022, owing to rising operating expenses.
Founded in 1997 by the late Onsi Sawiris, a member of Egypt’s billionaire Sawiris family, and led by his son Naguib Sawiris, OFH incurred standalone net losses of EGP234.45 million ($12.23 million) in the first half of 2022, compared to net profits of EGP 55.17 million ($2.87 million) in the same period in 2021.
Its financial performance in the six months ending June 30 was hampered by a loss of EGP320.5 million ($16.75 million) in the second quarter. The news comes after the group reported a consolidated net profit of EGP27.43 million ($1.43 million) in the first three months of 2022.
Despite a 30.8-percent increase in revenue from EGP57.9 million ($3.02 million) to EGP75.75 million ($3.96 million), the group was in the red at the end of the first six months of its 2022 fiscal year due to a surge in operating expenses.
This represents a decline from the EGP27.43 million ($1.43 million) in profit reported in the first three months of the year.
Despite its poor financial performance in the first half of 2022, its shares on the Egyptian Stock Exchange were slightly higher at EGP0.19 ($0.0099) per share, up from an opening price of EGP0.18 ($0.0094) per share earlier this month.
OFH’s share price has fallen from EGP0.23 ($0.012) to EGP0.19 ($0.0099) since the start of the year, bringing its market capitalization on the local bourse below EGP1 billion ($52.3 million), while the Sawiris family’s 51.6-percent stake in the group is valued at EGP510 million ($26.66 million).
OFH sold a portion of its holdings in one of its subsidiaries, Beltone Financial Holding, to Chimera Investment, an Abu Dhabi-based firm led by Pakistani businessman Syed Basar Shueb, as part of its efforts to exit its recent loss position.
It is unclear how much of OFH’s 59.22-percent stake was acquired during the share-purchase transaction.
