Fine Hygienic Holding, affiliated to Nuqul Group, aims to increase its investments in Egypt to $185m next year, compared to about $178m currently.
Ghassan Nuqul, chairperson of Fine Hygienic Holding, revealed that there are plans for the group’s subsidiaries to expand in the Egyptian market during the current year. He stressed that the group is studying a number of investment opportunities in Egypt during the current period and there are negotiations to acquire a company working in the field other than paper products.
In April, Fine Hygienic Holding acquired the Egyptian company Easy, which operates in the manufacture of health and beauty care products, and is headquartered in Alexandria.
Nuqul said that Easy, which specializes in the manufacture of health and beauty care products, has been fully acquired, and will add new production lines in Egypt.
By acquiring Easy, Fine Hygienic Holding will be able to enhance its product portfolio in the Egyptian market, offering consumers a broader range of products.
The chairperson added that the company seeks to expand and enhance the operations of Fine Solutions, the arm of Fine Hygienic Holding, which serves institutions and companies of all sizes with health solutions and products that include sanitary paper, sterilizers, chemicals, soap, and others.
He pointed out that Fine Solutions is the first specialized entity in the region to cover the needs of hospitals, hotels, factories, schools, airlines and others.
Nuqul added, in an interview with Daily News Egypt, that one of the group’s subsidiaries is in the final stages of preparing to enter the Egyptian market, refusing to disclose it, but saying that it does not work in the field of paper products.
He said that the expansion in Egypt is due to the group’s vision of the attractiveness of the Egyptian market, which enjoys great diversity and high population density, which makes it a very promising market.
Nuqul added that Egypt’s geographical location and the infrastructure that the state has built during the last period, especially the ports, make it a centre for export thanks to providing competitive shipping costs.
In particular, he added, Egypt has put in place many regulations and procedures to eliminate many challenges, and it is also working to remove obstacles that prevent investors from pumping their money to invest in its markets.
Nuqul believes that the Egyptian market is large and huge and enjoys many advantages, but like any market, it has some challenges from which the whole world suffers, including the rise in interest rates, in addition to the depreciation of the pound against the dollar.
He added that the decline in the exchange rate of the pound against the dollar has a positive aspect for the exporting companies.
Fine adopts this approach in most of its subsidiaries, as part of the production is allocated for export operations, in addition to meeting the demand in the local market in which it operates.
He stressed that the group was able to work and expand despite the economic challenges, in addition to adopting ambitious plans, and is keen to expand continuously.
The Nuqul Group owns more than 30 companies, the most prominent of which is Fine Hygienic Holding, and it owns factories in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
He said that at the present time, there is no plan to exit from any activity of Nuqul Group, on the contrary, the company is working to increase and expand its activities in line with its strategy.
He stressed that the group aims to launch new activities that serve the Egyptian consumer to enhance its dealings and maintain its strong position locally, explaining that the group has been operating in the Egyptian market for more than 70 years.
About the possibility of a new investor entering the capital of Fine Company, as is the case with the Affirma Capital deal, which already owns a share, he replied, “Yes, the door is open for the entry of strategic investors in the group to replace the Affirma Capital, and we are studying all available options according to market conditions and the group’s ambitions to expand.”
Regarding the offering of any of the subsidiaries on the Egyptian Exchange, he explained: “The issue of offering the company or part of it on the stock exchange is an important and major step that requires careful and accurate studies, but we have not studied this decision at the present time, but we are continuing to expand and increase our various activities and businesses.”
He stressed that the group sees a strong opportunity in the automotive industry market in Egypt and the whole world, indicating that the company is working on the necessary feasibility studies to enter the Egyptian auto industry market.
The group has also approved a joint power generation project and the use of natural gas as the main source of electricity generation in its four production facilities in Egypt, which contributes to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 25,000 tonnes annually.
The group has reduced water consumption rates within its factories in Egypt by establishing one of the most modern water treatment plants in 6th of October City, where it works to treat the water used in the manufacturing process and reuse it for industrial and agricultural purposes, according to Nuqul.
Regarding Fine Hygienic Holding, the Chairperson affirmed that it is seeking to capture a larger market share, as it is the largest group for manufacturing sanitary paper in the region, and its products reach 80 countries around the world.
He added that most of the company’s products are made in Egypt, pointing out that it enjoys a large market share in most of the region’s markets.
