Beltone Financial Holding will set up three new non-banking financial companies in September in a bid to return to profitability, CEO Ibrahim Karam said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday. Beltone will set up a financial leasing company targeting a first-year portfolio of EGP 600 mn, a consumer finance company with a first-year portfolio of EGP 400 mn, and a venture capital subsidiary, he said. The investment bank has already locked down the licenses for these subsidiaries. Beltone had said in January it expects non-banking financial services to contribute 30-40% of its revenue over the next three years. “The new companies, along with strengthening existing activities, will help us return to profit in 2021,” Karam said.

Beltone is still waiting on US regulators to approve the sale of its 60% stake in New York-based brokerage Auerbach Grayson. “We are waiting for the regulatory authorities there to approve it, but we have concluded an agreement with a buyer and signed contracts,” Karam told the newswire without disclosing the identity of the buyers, adding only that they were not a GCC-based institution. The investment bank announced in April that it had completed the sale to a group of investors, pending regulatory approval.

Beltone has been on a loss-making streak that is on its way to last three years, last reporting a profit in 1Q2018. The company announced improved figures in 2Q2020, reporting a EGP 12 mn loss from the EGP 34 mn loss made in 2019.