Hany Al-Deeb, CEO of the Heliopolis Company for Housing and Development told Daily News Egypt that the cost of developing 665 feddans (690.2 acres) in New Heliopolis increased by 20% due to the pound flotation, noting that the cost was estimated at EGP 30bn—including the price for the land—before the flotation and now surged to EGP 35bn. He said that the company was negatively impacted by the flotation and the hike in prices, especially after the increased costs of production inputs, including cement and steel. Al-Deeb pointed out that the project will be offered in September, following the completion of the master plan, noting that there will be a meeting this week to present the plan for approval, as a prelude to submitting it to the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA). SODIC Human Developments is partnering with Heliopolis Company in the development of EGP 20bn. Under the agreement, the Heliopolis Company is set to obtain 30% of sales income and 30.2% of revenues from commercial and administrative units with a minimum of EGP 5.01bn. Meanwhile, SODIC, which will handle all development and marketing, will obtain 70% of the revenues. The project is located on 655 feddans (690.2 acres) and targets revenues of EGP 30bn. The project will be implemented in three phases. It will include 8,600 units over a course of 10-13 years. Al-Deeb said that his company plans to acquire the development rights of the Maryland Casino from the company Magic Dreams in August, after ending the recent conflicts between the two companies. Legal disputes erupted between the Heliopolis Company—one of the companies in the public sector—and Magic Dreams on the development, which halted the project along with problems with the Ministry of Environment. Al-Deeb added that the company targets profits of EGP 300m in the current fiscal year. Profits of the company fell by 48.7% over the last six months of 2016, settling at EGP 132.2m, down from EGP 258.16m in the same period of 2015. The company said in its disclosure to the Egyptian Exchange that it does not have any deals in foreign currencies, adding that the flotation did not have any positive or negative impacts on the results of its business.
