Qalaa Holdings reported on Sunday a 134 percent year-on-year jump in consolidated revenues for the first quarter of the year. Consolidated revenues grew to 18.7 billion Egyptian pounds ($994.3 million) supported by an increase in the petroleum, marketing, and distribution sectors, along with in electricity distribution rates at TAQA Power. This is in addition to the expansion of the network of compressed natural gas stations, as well as the growth in its distribution rates. However, the company incurred a net loss of 584.1 million pounds, compared to a net loss of 478.6 million pounds in the same period last year. Subsidiaries' Revenues Revenues of the National Printing Company increased 69 percent year-on-year thanks to the operation of the new factory of Al-Badar Packaging Company, in addition to the growth in the volume of export sales and the application of a new pricing policy in Al-Shorouk and Uniboard. In addition, ASEC Holding Group's revenues grew 46 percent year-on-year to around 1 billion buoyed by the strong performance achieved by the integration cement plant in Sudan. Ahmed Heikal, chairman of Qalaa Holdings The company has demonstrated its flexibility and ability to adapt to the transformations that occurred in the economic scene over the past year, said founder and chairman Ahmed Heikal in a statement. Heikal added that the company entered 2022 while facing continuous changes in various operating environments and responding to their requirements. The first quarter of 2022 witnessed a significant increase in global inflationary pressures, with governments worldwide implementing tight monetary policies, and the pricing of power changing in all economic sectors and this benefitted large companies like Qalaa, he explained. Heikal further noted that Qalaa had managed to overcome these conditions and benefit from developments by increasing the operating rates of the affiliated manufacturers along with employing the competitive advantage of low manufacturing costs in boosting the volume of exports. Additionally, Qalaa's Egyptian Refining Company (ERC) achieved strong results, benefiting from the high prices of petroleum products and the improvement in refining profit margin amid the low supply of energy markets. Heikal also stressed his confidence in the company's ability to overcome the challenges resulting from the disruption of supply and supply chains. Qalaa's subsidiaries have become more ready and able to deal with this new reality, he added. Upcoming Plans and Potential Acquisitions Heikal highlighted that Qalaa intends to move forward with the growth of all its subsidiaries during the coming year, adding that additional investments would be pumped to them while preparing to implement some attractive acquisitions. Hisham El-Khazindar, Qalaa Holdings Co-Founder and Managing Director Qalaa's administration believes that the coming period would witness a drive for private sector companies to own stakes in government-owned companies. Meanwhile, Hisham El-Khazindar, co-founder and managing director of Qalaa, said: "the improvement in Qalaa's profitability during 1Q 2022 reflects the outstanding contribution of the Egyptian Refining Company, which achieved strong results thanks to the high prices of refined petroleum products and the growth in the refining profit margin." El-Khazindar also stressed that the administration is still focusing on completing the restructuring of the debts of Qalaa and the ERC, as it is its most important priority. He concluded that the company's performance is a testament to its commitment to growing its business and its ability to move forward amid various challenging operating environments, expressing his hopes for better results and outstanding performance for the subsidiaries in all the markets in which they operate.
