EARNINGS WATCH- Orascom Construction (OC) reported a bottom line of USD 23.9 mn in 1Q2021, down 4.4% y-o-y from USD 25 mn in 1Q2020, the company said in an earnings statement (pdf). Revenues were down 1.3% over the same quarter last year to USD 816.6 mn from USD 827.6 mn, with USD 580 mn coming from OC’s operations in the Middle East and Europe and USD 236.6 mn from the US. The company saw a “tangible contribution” to its Egypt business from its portfolio of subsidiaries and investments in the building materials sector and from facility management and infrastructure assets, CEO Osama Bishai said. It expects demand for construction chemicals to continue to increase, driven by “increased building activity in Egypt,” he added.

OC’s consolidated backlog excluding Besix was unchanged on a y-o-y basis at USD 5.4 bn. Consolidated new awards rose 11.2% y-o-y to USD 666.4 mn during the quarter. Including the group’s 50% share in Besix, pro forma backlog as of the end of 1Q2021 rose 2.6% y-o-y to USD 8.1 bn.

CI Capital reported a net loss of EGP 17 mn in 1Q2021, down from a bottom line of EGP 88 mn in 1Q2020, after incurring EGP 150 mn in non-recurring expenses for an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), according to the company’s earnings release (pdf). Normalized bottom line after tax and minority interest, which leaves out the one-off charge, came in at EGP 133 mn, up 48% from 90 mn in 1Q2021. Revenues ended the quarter up 8% y-o-y, climbing to EGP 560 mn from EGP 518 in the same quarter last year.

CI Capital’s leasing arm, Corplease, reported revenues EGP 282 mn during the quarter, down 9% y-o-y but contributing over 50% to the topline. Reefy, the group’s microfinance business, saw 1Q2021 total revenues grow 35% over 1Q2020 to reach EGP 129 mn as it “sustained its solid performance delivering record high KPIs across all fronts fueled by aggressive rollout of new branches,” the company said.

Mortgage finance operations, which have only recently been added to CI Capital’s business, remained in the green for the third consecutive quarter, reporting EGP 1.9 mn in profit on EGP 9 mn in revenues after having reversed a net loss position. Revenues from investment banking and advisory services also grew to EGP 124 mn in the quarter, up 16% from EGP 106 mn.

Crédit Agricole’s bottom line fell to EGP 378.5 mn in 1Q2021, compared to EGP 440 mn in 1Q2020 as its topline inched down 8% y-o-y to EGP 1.26 bn during the quarter, according to the bank’s quarterly financials (pdf).

OTHER MARKET NEWS-

The board of EGX-listed Speed Medical has approved a plan to list on the Dubai Financial Market, a move that would see it become the country’s latest dual-listed company, according to a regulatory filing (pdf) it made this morning. The board’s approval was under the condition that shares transferred to the DFM from the EGX cannot exceed a third of the company’s capital. An EGM is still due to be held to approve the transaction. Speed appointed Naeem advisory arm for initial technical and financial advice as it moves forward with the plan.

The diagnostics labs operator became the first company listed on the small-cap Nilex to make the jump to the EGX when it completed an EGP 222 mn capital increase late last year. The company’s sales and profit boomed during the pandemic as demand grew for covid-19 testing. Speed’s net income more than quadrupled in 2020.

MARKET ROUNDUP-

The EGX30 fell 0.69% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 1.56 bn (19.5% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 1.04% YTD.

In the green: EFG (+2.1%), Crédit Agricole (+1.3%) and Emaar Misr (+1.3%).

In the red: Elsewedy Electric (-4.2%), MM Group (-3.1%) and Fawry (-2.8%).