Arafa Holding, Egypt’s biggest garment exporter, posted an almost fourfold increase in net profit for the Feb-July period, the bourse said in a statement on Wednesday.
The firm’s net profit was $18.6 million in the Feb-July period, up from $4.8 million in the same period a year ago, the statement said. The period is the first half of Arafa’s financial year, which ends on Jan. 31, Reuters reported.
Arafa’s revenues dropped 26 percent year-on-year to reach $58.7 million in the second quarter of 2010 from $80 million, due to the sale of Arafa’s stakes in SRG and Melka International, which were grouped under Arafa’s 79.4 percent UK-owned subsidiary, the Baird Group, according to Beltone Financial.
In its daily report, Beltone said, “Arafa’s move to restructure its UK subsidiaries is in the right direction to cut costs and improve the group’s profitability. The company has been suffering from the weak demand and slow recovery of its major export markets, leading to a deterioration in its retail sales in Europe, and especially in the UK.
“Going forward, we believe the divestiture of the group’s UK units should enhance Arafa’s profitability and that the company should witness a stronger [second half].”
