GB Auto reported a record high bottom line in 2020 despite poor market conditions caused by the covid-19 pandemic weighing on revenues, according to the company’s annual earnings release (pdf). Full-year net income income exploded to EGP 917 mn, up from EGP 42.7 mn in 2019 even as revenues slipped 8.2% to EGP 23.3 bn due to the disruption caused by the pandemic. GB Auto CEO Raouf Ghabbour attributed the huge income growth to good management of working capital, inventory and debt levels — the latter of which was helped by the lower cost of borrowing — as well as the improved market conditions in the second half of the year.

In detail: Annual revenues at the company’s auto and auto-related segment came in at EGP 17 bn, down 15% from 2019 due to the impact of the lockdown in Egypt and poor economic conditions in Iraq. Nonetheless, net income in the segment came in at EGP 328 mn. GB Capital, meanwhile, saw its revenues rise 20% to EGP 6.4 bn, thanks to an expansion of its loans/receivables portfolio which grew by almost a third.

Looking ahead: “We are already witnessing continued growth in demand in the first quarter of the new year and are optimistic about our outlook going forward,” Ghabbour said. The auto segment is seeing improved conditions and rising consumer demand, and the global vaccine rollout and the return of tourism should help to pick up the company’s commercial vehicles and construction equipment business. It is also planning to launch two dual-fuel cars to coincide with the government’s drive to increase the use of natural gas in vehicles.

Sidpec narrowly escapes the red in 2020: Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals (Sidpec) reported a near-20x drop in net income to EGP 26 mn in 2020, down from a EGP 487 mn the previous year, according to its annual earnings release (pdf). This came as topline sales registered EGP 3.5 bn, 30% lower than 2019’s EGP 4.9 bn, the company said, attributing the hit to the historic crash in energy prices last year.