Madinet Nasr for Housing & Development (MNHD), an urban developer in Egypt, posted an increase of 246% in its net profit for the first half (H1) of the year, the company said in a press release on Wednesday. The company reported a net profit of EGP 509.6m on revenues of EGP 1.1619bn, up 246.1% y-o-y and yielding a 15 percentage-point expansion in net profit margin to 43.9% on a quarterly basis. MNHD delivered revenue growth of 39% y-o-y in the second quarter (Q2) 2017 to EGP 410.3m, despite the quarter not witnessing any new launches. On a standalone basis, revenues recorded a 191.3% y-o-y increase in H1 2017 to EGP 1.0447bn, while net profit climbed 260.9% y-o-y to EGP 512.7m. For the three-month period, revenues came in at EGP 354.4m in Q2 2017, up 61.5% y-o-y and filtering to a net profit of EGP 106.5m. Standalone financials exclude two contracting companies owned by MNHD. Total contracted sales during the quarter recorded EGP 576.8m in Q2 2017 versus EGP 286.6m in the same period last year—while on a six-month basis, contracted sales grew almost five-fold to EGP 2.4094bn. It is worth noting that MNHD's contracted sales during the month of July of 2017 stood at EGP 210m, bringing total year-to-date contracted sales to EGP 2.6194bn. On the deliveries front, MNHD delivered a total of 146 units in H1 2017 with the bulk being handed to clients during Q2 2017 at 120 units, up 44.6% y-o-y. "With almost EGP 2.5bn in contracted sales during the first six months of 2017, MNHD is on a steady course to meeting its full-year targets," said the company's CEO, Ahmed El Hitamy. "Heading into the second half of the year, we're gearing up for yet another round of launches that will drive sales growth and capture pent-up demand for our benchmark properties." According to the press release, MNHD continues to push forward with efforts to launch new phases at its Taj City development. Following the success witnessed in T-Zone, Taj City's second phase, which was sold out as of the end of 2016 after having generated EGP 2.4bn in sales. MNHD is soon to announce the launch of T-Zone's phase two. Following the amendment of its master plan, the EGP 60b Taj City project will boast a wide variety of residential communities, office buildings, a medical centre, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, and other commercial ventures. Meanwhile, at MNHD's 5.5 million sqm SARAI project—located in New Cairo in close proximity to the New Administrative Capital—the company continues to monetise this unique land plot, booking a total of EGP 2.81bn in contracts since its launch in November 2016. The company will continue to monetise this unique land plot with future launches as well as through its strategic alliances, the company confirmed. In total, MNHD has more than 8,000 units under development/design at five key projects in the Greater Cairo area.
