Mauritian tycoon Arnaud Lagesse’s IBL rebounds after two difficult years

IBL Group, a multinational conglomerate led by Mauritian multimillionaire businessman Arnaud Lagesse, reported a significant increase in earnings at the end of its 2022 fiscal year, with its profit exceeding $43 million due to a post-pandemic rebound across its operating segments.

The Port Louis-based diversified conglomerate reported a profit of MUR1.96 billion ($43.8 million) at the end of its 2022 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, representing a 1,917-percent increase over the MUR97.4 million ($2.2 million) in profit that it earned from operations last year.

After two tough years, the group’s earnings rose by 26 percent, from MUR35.8 billion ($801.3 million) to MUR45 billion ($1 billion) on the back of a post-pandemic rebound as business activities resumed normalcy.

The company stated that the increase in revenue and earnings during the period under review can be attributed to improved results from highly impacted companies that benefited from the opening of Mauritian borders and the subsequent resumption of travel and tourism.

Despite a MUR418.54-million ($9.37 million) loss resulting from its corporate services cluster and a MUR47.5-million ($10.64 million) loss resulting from its agro and energy clusters, the group’s gross profit soared to MUR3.36 billion ($75.2 million) from MUR585.96 million ($13.1 million).

“Despite a difficult environment at the start of the 2021-2022 fiscal year with travel restrictions, disrupted supply, rising shipping, fuel, and raw material costs, and reduced purchasing power, most IBL Group companies are emerging from this crisis stronger operationally and financially,” IBL Group CEO Arnaud Lagesse said announcing the group’s results.

He went on to state that the group learned from previous disruptions and seized opportunities during the year to optimize the efficiency of its operations, claiming that this approach helped the group weather disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to judicious resource deployment and an innovative mindset to exploit new sources of income.

IBL is a world-class, diverse Mauritian conglomerate with subsidiaries operating in the commerce, engineering, financial services, logistics, aviation and shipping, retail, seafood, and marine sectors.

In addition to serving as directors, Lagesse and his siblings Benoit, Hugues, Jean-Pierre, Thierry, and Stephane Lagesse own a 16.8-percent joint stake in the group, or 114,369,469 shares.