Madinat Misr for Housing and Development (MNHD) aims to direct new investments worth EGP 3bn this year, mostly in the construction works of the company’s projects.
Abdallah Sallam, CEO of MNHD, revealed that the company changed its name from “Madinet Nasr” to “Madinet Masr” to reflect its new strategy to expand throughout the country, as well as build Egyptian cities around the world.
Sallam added, in exclusive statements to Daily News Egypt, on the sidelines of the annual Suhoor party, that the company is studying penetrating new markets in the Gulf and Europe, stressing that the Gulf market is the closest option this year.
He said that the company is studying a number of new investment opportunities and is negotiating a number of land plots as part of its expansion plan during the coming period.
He explained that the company is studying the trend to invest in several areas, including the New Administrative Capital, West Cairo and the North Coast, whether in partnership with the private sector or the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA).
He added that the company is preparing to launch a new project in Assiut during the coming period, as part of its vision to expand in all regions of Egypt, especially the cities of Upper Egypt, stressing that his company is studying cooperation with the largest developers and specialized companies in the coming period.
He also added that the company raised the prices of its units from 30 to 50% during this year, according to each project, and does not consider linking the prices of its units to the dollar.
Sallam also explained that the idea of selling the state’s share in MNHD, which amounts to 15%, will not change the company’s plans, in light of the government’s possession of one seat in the board of directors, despite the hope that the government’s share will continue as is in the coming period.
The Cabinet announced the list of government proposals, which includes 32 companies, including MNHD.
Regarding financing, he said that the company finances most of its projects by itself, and that banks will always seek to lend them, especially that the company’s financial leverage is only 0.4 times.
He revealed that the company will launch a new securitization process within its multi-issuance program by the end of this year. Moreover, he said that the value of this process will be determined according to the transferred portfolio at the time of implementation of the process, and that it is studying several other financing alternatives, especially sukuk, but it has not decided on that issue yet.
Sallam revealed that the company changed its name with the aim of improving its visual identity to reflect the new transformation of the company into an urban development platform.
He explained that the change to the brand is very slight, as the new icon of the brand reflects the history of the company, as well as the transformation it is targeting.
He pointed out that the company achieved contractual sales exceeding EGP 12.5bn in 2022, sold more than 3,000 units, and recorded a total profit of EGP 2bn.
Sallam said that the company achieved combined revenues during the past year amounting to EGP 5.2bn, and a net profit of EGP 747m, explaining that the profits came only from project sales, and the company did not sell any plots of land.
