EARNINGS WATCH- Qalaa Holdings’ revenues rose 8% y-o-y in 2Q2019 to EGP 3.5 bn “driven by solid top line performance at TAQA Arabia,” the company’s energy platform, Qalaa said in its earnings release (pdf). TAQA’s revenues grew 33% y-o-y during the quarter.

ERC set to come online in 4Q2019: The Egyptian Refining Company (ERC) is set to see its first full operational quarter in 4Q2019, and is “currently seeing a ramp-up of utilization rates,” said founder and Chairman Ahmed Heikal. Qalaa’s flagship project has supplied the Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC) with more than 700k tonnes of refined oil products. All units at ERC, which has drawn in USD 4.4 bn in investments, became officially operational earlier this month.

Looking ahead, management expects ERC coming online to positively impact earnings, while solid fundamentals across its subsidiaries offer “a solid hedge against changes in our external environment,” said co-founder and Managing Director Hisham El Khazindar. “Heading into the final quarter of the year, we see Qalaa’s investments across its business segments and its portfolio delivering gradual improvement in the company’s consolidated profitability over the coming period,” said El Khazindar.