Despite the headwinds from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Orascom Development Holding (ODH), a leading property developer led by Egypt’s billionaire Sawiris family, reported a profit of CHF17.5 million ($17.9 million) at the end of the first quarter of its 2022 fiscal year.
According to the property developer’s interim report, its net profit rose by 464.5 percent from CHF3.1 million ($3.2 million) in the first quarter of 2021 to CHF17.5 million ($17.9 million) in the first quarter of 2022, owing to a 33.2-percent increase in revenue from CHF106.5 million ($109.1 million) to CHF141.9 million ($145.3 million).
Earnings increased significantly during the first quarter of the year, owing to a significant increase in the performance of the company’s real estate, hotels and town management segments.
The management also stated that the increase in revenues and earnings was due to the holding’s construction activities being accelerated, with real estate revenues rising by 12.8 percent, as well as the improved business performance of the hotels and town management segments.
Despite the strong financial performance, the group’s total assets dropped by 4.8 percent from CHF2.07 billion ($2.11 billion) at the start of the year to CHF1.97 billion ($2.01 billion) at the end of the first quarter of 2022, while shareholder funds fell slightly from CHF347.6 million ($356.1 million) to CHF332.5 million ($340.7 million).
ODH offers a diverse portfolio of world-class destinations in Egypt, the UAE, Oman, Morocco, Montenegro, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, under the leadership of key members of the Sawiris family.
The group owns and operates 33 hotels with a total of 7,198 rooms, as well as about 101.4 million square meters of land, which includes hotels, residential units and leisure facilities such as golf courses, marinas and supporting infrastructure.
After nearly 30 years at the helm of the property developer, Egyptian real estate tycoon Samih Sawiris announced his decision to step down as chairman of Orascom Development Holding AG in December 2021.
In accordance with his decision, Sawiris will not seek re-election as chairman of the group at the next annual general shareholders meeting, which is scheduled for this spring.
