A total of 35% of Nubaria Agricultural Engineering’s territory, 7,000 acres, was flooded following a wave of torrential rains that tore through Beheira in November, according to company Chairman Sayed Abdel Wahab.
He confirmed that agricultural work had been halted in those areas because machinery could not be operated there.
The company owns approximately 77,700sqm of real estate land in its main headquarters in addition to 8,500sqm in its main workshop in Maryiut and 3,000sqm in its Nahda workshop in Alexandria.
The company, an affiliate of the Holding Company for Land Reclamation and Groundwater, achieved sales worth EGP 6bn in 2015.
Abdel Wahab said that Nubaria’s annual sales were drawn from operational revenues worth EGP 3.2m and services sold worth EGP 2.8m.
The volume of company sales reached EGP 50m before 2003 and that the most recent projects implemented by the company via direct order were to reclaim land worth EGP 4m for the Toshka project. The state then stopped assigning projects by direct order in 2005.
The company currently obtains reclamation work through bids and that Nubaria relies on internal financing through sales to third parties, renting machinery and equipment, and premiums paid for lands sold.
Abdel Wahab said the government prepared basic infrastructure for the land and offered it to investors for purchasing but the situation changed after the state began requesting that investors first reclaim the land and then legalise the territory and obtain ownership without utilising the plot. This precipitated a decline in demand for reclamation activities and the state also largely withdrew from this area of activity and left it open to the private sector.
Nubaria has more than 200 pieces of equipment used to implement reclamation and cultivation work as well as machinery to clear canals and drains. Abdel Wahab called for a return of the direct order system for reclamation work, especially for the project to reclaim 1.5m acres.
The company’s General Assembly decided to raise its issued capital for FY 2015/2016 to EGP 15m compared to EGP 10m last year, distributed across 1.5m shares.
He explained that 51% of company funds are owned by private sector shareholders and the price of a share is currently EGP 6, with a nominal value of EGP 10.
