Orascom Telecom Media and Technology's (OTMT) consolidated financial statement for the first half (H1) of 2015 ending 30 June show net profits jumped to EGP 728m, the company revealed in an official statement to the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX). The amount compares to the EGP 676m in net profits the company recorded in the same period the previous year, whereby this half's results mark a year-on-year (YoY) increase in profits of 7.7%. Furthermore, the company's operating revenues in H1 of 2015 reached EGP 1bn, up from the EGP 787m recorded in the same period the preceding year. Meanwhile, in the first quarter (Q1) of 2015, OTMT recorded net profits worth EGP 373.8m, up from the EGP 324.34m that were achieved in the same period in 2014. This year, results marked a 15.3% YoY increase. In February, the company sold its stake and all voting rights in the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (Mobinil) to Orange SA, which were equal to 28.75%. The deal meant that Orange would pay an amount of approximately €209.6m to increase its stake in Mobinil to approximately 99%. In 2012, Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris, OTMT's Executive Chairman and CEO, sold a part of his shares in Mobinil to Orange. The latest deal marks the selling of his last minority stake of 5% in Mobinil. During the Economic Summit which took place in March, Sawiris said his group aims to inject EGP 2.5bn in a number of labour-intensive projects in the upcoming period. Sawiris added the new projects will focus on logistics, river transportation, and agriculture, as well as traditional and renewable energy. The company will finance small and micro-projects, the business tycoon said. At the Economic Summit, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Lafarge Egypt and OTMT, to develop a waste management municipal and agricultural waste facility. Another agreement was also signed between the company and the Ministry of Electricity, to establish a 50 MW solar energy plant. Deputy CEO and COO Tamer El-Mahdy told Daily News Egypt in May that the main challenge facing OTMT's solar energy project is the coordination between the Ministries of Finance and Electricity and the Central Bank of Egypt.
