Egyptian billionaire Ahmed Ezz’s steel company posts $26-million loss in H1 2023

Ezz Steel, the Cairo-based steel producer led by Egyptian businessman Ahmed Ezz, has published its financial results for the first half of its 2023 fiscal year, revealing substantial losses totaling millions of dollars primarily attributed to soaring operating expenses.

In a stark contrast to its impressive performance during the same period in 2022, Ezz Steel faced a challenging first half of 2023.

According to the company’s recently released financial results, Ezz Steel suffered a staggering loss of EGP809.77 million ($26.2 million) during this period. In 2022, it reported strong earnings of EGP4.12 billion ($133.3 million).

Despite an impressive increase in total sales, which surged from EGP38.49 billion ($1.24 billion) to EGP62.26 billion ($2.01 billion), the company’s profit was entirely eroded by the substantial rise in direct production costs and operating expenses.

Ezz Steel, renowned as the largest independent steel producer in the Middle East and North Africa, has showcased remarkable financial resilience in recent years. The company achieved an impressive total output of 5.14 million metric tonnes, placing it ahead of industry giants like Saudi Arabia’s Hadeed and Emirates Steel.

Ezz, a prominent Egyptian industrialist, holds a 60.7-percent stake in Ezz Steel, equivalent to 329,816,198 shares in the steel behemoth. This significant stake cements his status as one of the wealthiest investors on the Egyptian Exchange and ranks him among the richest individuals in Egypt.

According to the World Steel Association, a non-profit organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, Ezz Steel ranks as the top steel producer in Africa and the Arab world, with a total output of 5.14 million tonnes, surpassing Saudi Arabia’s Hadeed and Emirates Steel.

Despite the significant losses of EGP809.77 million ($26.2 million) in the first half of its 2023 fiscal year, Ezz Steel witnessed an increase in its total assets, growing from EGP66.21 billion ($2.14 billion) at the end of 2022 to EGP88.16 billion ($2.85 billion).