Mobinil Q1 profit up as subscriptions jump Mobinil posted its sixth rise in profit in seven quarters on Wednesday as subscribers rose sharply, but the company s chief executive said the pace of growth could slow, reported Reuters. Mobinil, Egypt s largest mobile operator by subscribers, said net income rose 14 percent to LE 451 million ($84 million) as the number of subscribers jumped by more than half. But results missed a forecast by HC Securities & Investment of LE 482 million. Mobinil said it had 16.161 million subscribers by the end of the quarter, up 52 percent from a year earlier. It added 1.044 million subscribers during the quarter. Net revenues rose 27 percent to LE 2.25 billion and core earnings rose 18 percent to LE 1 billion. We ve continued healthy growth in our subscriber base, chief executive Alex Shalaby told Reuters. It s a continuation of our performance last year, but I don t know if we can continue at this pace. Shalaby said in April he expected the company s annual net income to slow from the 20 percent growth in 2007 to growth in the teens as competition increases. He said he expected the number of subscribers to jump 33 percent to nearly 20 million this year as it signs up people on lower incomes. Mobinil, whose shareholders include France Telecom and Orascom Telecom, competes with Etisalat Egypt, a unit of UAE-based Emirates Telecommunications Corp. and Vodafone Egypt. Mobinil said in April it had rejected a request from Egypt s telecoms regulator to pay interest on delayed payment of a LE 750 million installment of a 3G service license fee. Mobinil said it would pay the fee on around June 13 instead of April 1 because of a delay in handing over the frequency band for Mobinil to do testing before service begins. -Agencies Kuwaiti airways to increase two-way flights to Egypt Kuwait Airways Corporation will organize additional flights to Cairo as of the middle of next month coinciding with the annual vacation of thousands of Kuwaiti students studying in Egypt, reported the Kuwaiti News Agency. The KAC regional manager for the Middle East and Africa, Abdel Nasser Behrami, said up to four or five flights will be available daily to cope with the higher travel demand between Cairo and Kuwait during this time. He added that flights to Alexandria would also increase from three per week to five. Two Assiut, there will two trips instead of one, in addition to the regular two flights to Sharm El-Sheikh. Orascom Hotels join Shuaa to build hotels Reuters reported that Orascom Hotels and Development said on Thursday it has set up a joint venture with a Shuaa Capital private equity fund to build five business hotels in Egypt. Orascom would have a 51 stake in the project, which would require total investment of about $125 million, Orascom said. The other 49 percent will be owned by Shuaa Hospitality Fund, which is run by Dubai-based private equity firm Shuaa Partners, it added. Orascom Hotels on Tuesday posted a 129 percent rise in net profit for the first quarter of 2008 to LE 82.09 million ($15.29 million). The company said in March it would list its shares in Switzerland where its owner Samih Sawiris is planning to build an Alpine hotel resort. It would have a secondary listing in Egypt. -Agencies Naeem says free share issue approved Egypt-based investment bank Naeem Holding said on Thursday it had regulatory approval to distribute profit by issuing one free share for every three. The free share issue will add $80 million to the capital of the company, it said in a statement quoted by the stock exchange. Naeem Holding made an unaudited net profit of $107.6 million in 2007, 419 percent up on 2006, largely due to proceeds from the sale of its 9.79 percent stake in AlWatany Bank of Egypt to the National Bank of Kuwait, reported Reuters. -Agencies Ghabbour Q1 jumps on passenger car sales Ghabbour Auto said its first-quarter profit nearly doubled on higher sales for passenger cars and commercial vehicles, reported Reuters. Net profit jumped 89.8 percent to LE 91.1 million ($16.96 million). Revenue increased 30.3 percent to LE 1.1 billion. Passenger car revenue was LE 758.2 million, up 28.4 percent, and commercial vehicle revenue was LE 193.7 million, up 96.8 percent. Both passenger cars and commercial vehicles registered best ever first quarter sales for the low season, chief executive Raouf Ghabbour said in a statement. The company s passenger car sales rose 17.7 percent compared to the same period last year. The company had a passenger car market share in Egypt of 21.3 percent at the end of the quarter. The outlook for the remainder of this year remains positive, Ghabbour said in the statement. Ghabbour has an exclusive licence from South Korea s Hyundai Motor Company to assemble and distribute its cars in Egypt. Hyundai models were Egypt s best-selling passenger cars in 2006, with about 27 percent market share, according to Cairo investment bank Beltone Financial. About 70 percent of revenue would come from passenger cars in 2008 and 30 percent from other vehicles, including trucks, buses, and motorcycles. By 2009, about 60 percent of revenue is expected to come from passenger cars.
