The ordinary general assembly of telecommunications company Orange Egypt approved the resignation of Atef Helmy as chairperson of the board of directors and appointed Bruno Mettling as the representative of MT Telecom. Orange had appointed Helmy, the former minister of communications and information technology, as chairperson of the company last year. The general assembly approved the amendment of the status of Michel John Mary Monzani to become the vice chairperson of the board representing MT Telecom instead of just a board member. Meanwhile, the general assembly approved the conclusion of a new financing agreement with MT Telecom Company, the main shareholder of the company. The loan is worth €250m and is set to be used to finance the company's requirements. It will be due for repayment on 21 December 2020 with an interest rate of 7.7% per year. The company authorized Jean Marc, a member of the board of directors, to sign this contract on behalf of the company. MT Telecom will obtain the necessary approval. The contribution of MT in Orange Egypt amounts to 98.92%. The issued and paid up capital of the company is EGP 1bn, distributed across 100 million shares, each with a nominal value of EGP 10. Orange Egypt had announced net consolidated losses of EGP 2.55bn in 2016, down from a net profit of EGP 10.4m in 2015. The company's non-consolidated losses amounted to approximately EGP 2.86bn that year, versus net profits of EGP 49.8m in 2015. Moreover, the company achieved an operating income of EGP 11.8bn during the year, compared to EGP 11.37bn of revenues in 2015—an increase of 3.6%. The company suffered losses of EGP 615.2m during the year due to currency devaluation differences on the back of the flotation of the pound on 3 November 2016. In 2015, the losses due to currency differences amounted to EGP 16.3m. Orange also incurred financing expenses of EGP 2.81bn during the year, including interest on the supportive loan granted by the main shareholder to finance the 4G license, in addition to EGP 1.69bn in the currency exchange rate difference on the same loan. This is compared to EGP 992m in 2015.
