EARNINGS WATCH- Elsewedy Electric reported a 7% y-o-y drop in net profit after tax and minority interest to EGP 1.4 bn in 1Q2018, down from EGP 1.5 bn in the same period the year before, the company said in its earnings release (pdf). Revenues inched up 2% y-o-y to EGP 9.9 bn, driven largely by the wires and cables segment, which grew by 18% y-o-y. The company is “actively exploring new growth avenues with a particular focus on infrastructure,” and will focus on “screening and identifying EPC tenders across infrastructure projects such as electricity, water treatment and desalination projects,” says CEO Ahmed El Sewedy.

Elsewedy looks to get in on the deregulated electricity market: “In parallel, we are also pushing ahead with our strategy of building recurring revenue streams in the power generation space through the ownership of facilities as an Independent Power Producer (IPP),” El Sewedy added. Under the IPP framework, private companies are allowed to directly sell power to consumers while paying the state a fee to use the national grid for transmission. The Electricity Ministry is currently working on developing the pricing scheme for power produced and sold under the framework.