Arab Contractors Company's net profits slumped 33.3% year on year in the 2012/2013 fiscal year (FY) to register EGP 336m, down from EGP 505m in FY 2011/2012, CEO of Arab Contractors Mohamed Mohsen Salah said on Sunday. Salah made the announcement during a Sunday meeting of the company's board of directors, attended by Minister of Housing Ibrahim Mahlab, to adopt the FY 2012/2013 budget, a statement from the housing ministry said. During the meeting, Mahlab called on the firm's officials to work "excessively" to conclude their ongoing construction projects. The company's business volume in FY 2012/2013 was valued at EGP 11.027bn, compared to EGP 11.020 in the preceding fiscal year, recording a 1.6% decrease, Salah said. The value of the firm's offshore business reached EGP 2.85bn, registering a 4% increase from EGP 2.47bn in FY 2011/2012. Meanwhile, net profits of the offshore business marked a 39.25% decrease to reach EGP 113m, according to Salah. Arab Contractors is one of the leading construction companies in the Middle East, with construction projects extended to include public buildings, bridges, roads, tunnels, airports, water projects and power stations. In August 2013, the company was ranked 83rd in the Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 250 International Contractors list. The company was tasked with repairing damages resulting from the explosion at the Cairo Security office in January. Earlier in December, Minister of Industry Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour announced that obstacles facing construction companies, related to ratifying documents and certificates, have been resolved. The construction sector has been "negatively affected" due to the instability following 30 June, a quarterly study by Gleeds Construction Consultancy Egypt (GCCE) said. However, the study noted that the sector was affected "not as significantly as the period following the 2011 civil unrest". The study, published last October, said that during the period from July to September, the price of construction materials remained relatively stable, which indicates that the majority of suppliers and specialist contractors appear to be maintaining price levels to protect their market shares and profit margins.
