EARNINGS WATCH- Qalaa Holdings’ revenues soared 191% y-o-y in 1Q2020 to EGP 10.4 bn, the company said in its quarterly earnings release (pdf). The revenue growth came as Qalaa’s flagship greenfield Egyptian Refining Company — which began operating at 100% capacity in 2019 — began booking sales revenue as an operational asset. ERC brought in EGP 6.8 bn in revenues, accounting for 66% of Qalaa’s topline. Qalaa Holdings booked a consolidated net loss after minority interest of EGP 405.1 mn in 1Q2020 against a net loss of EGP 154.6 mn in 1Q2019.

Qalaa expects the “serious challenges” posed by the covid-19 pandemic to persist in 2Q2020 and beyond, including the “dislocation” of oil and petroleum product markets globally, but the company is still confident that ERC will be able to “deliver significant incremental value to Qalaa’s bottom-line in due time,” said co-founder and Managing Director Hisham El Khazindar. Qalaa Chairman Ahmed Heikal also said the company is maintaining a positive outlook despite the pandemic and has no plans for layoffs at this time.