19 August 2011
CAIRO -- Some of Egypt's biggest companies suffer from sagging profits in a fresh sign that the uprising has continued to take its toll on the country's economy, the National newspaper in Abu Dhabi said on Thursday.
Banking and property are among the sectors hardest hit by the revolution and the political uncertainty that followed, it cited analysts as saying.
The second-quater profit of the Commercial International Bank, Egypt's largest lender, took an 11-percent decline, compared with the same period last year, to 443 million Egyptian pounds (SR272.5m), it said.
Profits at Talaat Moustafa Group, one of the country's biggest developers, slumped 40 percent in the second quarter to 202m pounds. Palm Hills Development, another big property player, was projected to lose 45.3m pounds in the second quarter.
Banks, meanwhile, have been hit because of companies' reluctance to buy equipment or to borrow for business expansion in the current uncertainty.
The banks are also feeling the brunt of a decline in trade. Financing commerce made up a substantial part of some banks' business.
"For banks the main negative effect was in the first quarter, when there was a clear drop in loan growth driven by lower capital expenditure and loan demand," the National quoted Tarik El Mejjad, an analyst with Nomura in London, as saying.
Analysts said that a deeper look at the state of Egypt's biggest listed companies would give a "far more complicated" picture.
CAIRO -- Some of Egypt's biggest companies suffer from sagging profits in a fresh sign that the uprising has continued to take its toll on the country's economy, the National newspaper in Abu Dhabi said on Thursday.
Banking and property are among the sectors hardest hit by the revolution and the political uncertainty that followed, it cited analysts as saying.
The second-quater profit of the Commercial International Bank, Egypt's largest lender, took an 11-percent decline, compared with the same period last year, to 443 million Egyptian pounds (SR272.5m), it said.
Profits at Talaat Moustafa Group, one of the country's biggest developers, slumped 40 percent in the second quarter to 202m pounds. Palm Hills Development, another big property player, was projected to lose 45.3m pounds in the second quarter.
Banks, meanwhile, have been hit because of companies' reluctance to buy equipment or to borrow for business expansion in the current uncertainty.
The banks are also feeling the brunt of a decline in trade. Financing commerce made up a substantial part of some banks' business.
"For banks the main negative effect was in the first quarter, when there was a clear drop in loan growth driven by lower capital expenditure and loan demand," the National quoted Tarik El Mejjad, an analyst with Nomura in London, as saying.
Analysts said that a deeper look at the state of Egypt's biggest listed companies would give a "far more complicated" picture.
© The Saudi Gazette 2011
