South African billionaire Nicky Oppenheimer loses $780 million in past 54 days

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.

Jubilee Holdings is on course to pocket a total of Ksh270 million ($2.26 million) from the sale of a 54.15-percent stake in its Mauritian subsidiary Jubilee Insurance Company of Mauritius Limited to Allianz SE.

Alliansz SE is a German multinational financial services company headquartered in Munich.

The transaction is the fifth to be concluded under a 2020 agreement in which Allianz began the process of purchasing majority stakes in Jubilee’s general insurance units in five countries, including Mauritius.

“We expect to close the Mauritius transaction in September… For Jubilee, the total consideration is Sh270 million,” Nizar Juma, chairman of Jubilee Holdings, said, setting the timeline for the $2.26-million deal with the German multinational insurer.

Jubilee Holdings is a Kenyan investment holding company with active operations and investments in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and Mauritius. It owns 88.15 percent of Jubilee Insurance Company of Mauritius Limited.

Shah Karim al-Husayni, also known as Aga Khan IV, is best known for founding Nation Media Group, Africa’s largest independent media organization. Through the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, he owns 37.98 percent of Jubilee Holdings and 11.85 percent of its Mauritian subsidiary.

According to BusinessDaily, Allianz will purchase additional shares from Aga Khan IV, who will sell his 11.85-percent stake in the Mauritian subsidiary as part of the deal.

With the deal expected to close next month, Jubilee Holdings will see its ownership interest drop to 34 percent as part of its partial divestiture in its general insurance businesses, which follows the sale of similar assets in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi.

Over two months ago, Jubilee received Ksh1.4 billion ($11.7 million) from the sale of a majority stake in its Tanzanian general insurance business to Allianz.

Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola’s stake in the country’s oldest commercial bank, First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Plc (FBNH), has risen by more than $12 million in recent months, as shares in the financial services group rebounded strongly after falling below key levels.

According to data tracked by Billionaires.Africa, Otedola’s stake in FBNH has increased in value by N5.34 billion ($12.7 million) in the past 54 days, as investors continued to cherry-pick stakes in the commercial banking group after its price fell below N9 ($0.0214) in June.

FBNH is one of Nigeria’s largest financial services conglomerates. It is the non-operating holding company of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, the country’s oldest commercial bank, with active operations in 10 countries.

According to a flurry of trading updates published on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in June, Otedola sold 664,939,764 shares in four separate transactions, reducing his stake in the Nigerian lender from 2,717,282,140 shares, or 7.57 percent, to 2,052,342,376 shares, or 5.72 percent.

Shares in the financial group have increased by 31 percent since June 21, nearly 54 days ago, from N8.4 ($0.02) to N11 ($0.026) at the time of writing, amid renewed buying interest in the bank’s shares on the local bourse.

As a result of the double-digit increase in the shares of FBNH, the market value of Otedola’s 5.72 percent stake in FBNH has increased by N5.34 billion ($12.73 million), from N17.24 billion ($41.12 million) on June 21 to N22.58 billion ($53.85 million) at the time of writing this report.

The recent gains in his stake follow a dividend of N951.05 million ($2.29 million) from his equity stake in the financial services group that he received earlier this year.