Leading investment company Citadel Capital announced on Saturday that assets on its balance sheets have risen to reach EGP 30bn during 2013, compared to EGP 5.8bn in 2012. The investment firm pointed out that the rise in assts comes as part of the company's ongoing transformation from a hybrid private equity firm to an investment company. "On the income statement front, the firm's statutory consolidated net loss narrowed 54.4% year-on-year in Q4 2013 to EGP 128.5m, while on a full-year basis the firm's net loss was nearly halved, falling to EGP 384.9m," the company said in an official statement. During the final quarter of 2013, the total aggregate revenues at Citadel Capital's core and non-core companies jumped 13.9% to reach EGP 1.7bn. "The year-on-year contraction in net loss owes almost entirely to the improved operational performance at the underlying platform and portfolio companies," the investment firm added. The company said that the operational performance's improvement was "weighed down by EGP 139.1m in non-cash impairments taken mainly in Q1 2013, related to previously written-down upstream oil and gas investments". In January, the investment company purchased assets and add-on investments worth EGP 2.628bn. It subsequently stated that it expected to make additional asset purchases with a value of EGP 132m. The firm has been selling its non-core investments and will continue to do so during the coming three years. In April, the company "exited its full 66.12% stake in Sudanese Egyptian bank, a full-service Sharia [Islamic law] compliant bank" and sold it to the Islamic Solidarity Bank of Sudan with a $22m price tag. Earlier this month the company received an offer to sell 100% of its non-core portfolio company Sphinx Glass for $112m. "Citadel Capital will be divesting its 73.3% ownership stake in the company, which will result in cash proceeds of approximately $73m after the estimated capital gains tax; the balance of the equity subject to sale in the transaction is held by co-investors," the company said in an official statement. The sale deal is expected to be completed within the next two months.
