Egypt’s newest billionaires, El-Sewedy family sees billion-dollar fortune take a hit

Omokolade Ajayi -

The El-Sewedy family, Egypt’s newest billionaire family, has witnessed a substantial decline in the market value of their joint stake in Elsewedy Electric, with losses totaling $76 million over the past eight days.

This downturn follows their remarkable achievement just four weeks ago when they crossed the coveted $1 billion threshold on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) on Sept. 6. Although their fortunes have dwindled recently, their joint stake still hovers above the $1-billion mark.

Following their recent rise to prominence, data tracked by Billionaires.Africa revealed that the market value of the El-Sewedy family’s stake in Elsewedy Electric has slumped by EGP2.35 billion ($76 million) in the past eight days.

This decline was driven by a significant pullback in the company’s shares, mainly attributed to profit-booking activities among investors on the EGX.

Established in 1938 by the El-Sewedy family, Elsewedy Electric is a well-known player in the electrical equipment manufacturing industry. The company has played a pivotal role in numerous electrical projects across the Middle East and North Africa.

Ahmed El-Sewedy and his siblings, Sadek and Mohammed, hold a controlling and beneficial stake of 68.1 percent in the company, equivalent to a staggering 1,478,358,330 ordinary shares.

The company’s shares on the Egyptian Exchange have declined by 6.7 percent in recent times, falling from EGP 23.79 ($0.77) on Sept. 25 to EGP 22.2 ($0.71), thereby pushing the company’s market capitalization below the $1.6-billion mark

As a result of this recent slump in the company’s share price, which has resulted in substantial losses for shareholders, the market value of the El-Sewedy family’s joint shareholding has fallen from EGP 35.17 billion ($1.137 billion) to EGP 32.82 billion ($1.061 billion) from Sept. 25 to Oct. 3.

This represents a loss of EGP 2.35 billion ($76 million) for the billionaire family. Despite this financial setback, the El-Sewedy family still retains their status as one of Egypt’s billionaire families, a position they achieved less than a month ago.