CAIRO: Strong passenger car sales helped Egypt s auto maker and importer Ghabbour Auto report a 61.7 percent rise in its first-half net profit to LE 237.2 million ($44.75 million) on Wednesday.
The company said in a statement that total revenue stood at LE 2.623 billion, a 32.9 percent increase on the same period in 2007.
Revenue from passenger cars rose 37.6 percent to LE 1.950 billion, driven by a 31.2 percent growth in volumes and a 29 percent rise in after-sales revenue. Commercial vehicles revenue rose 63.3 percent to LE 379.3 million.
Shares in the company last traded 5.75 percent up at LE 45.45 a share, outperforming the benchmark CASE 30 index which edged up 0.7 percent.
Chief Executive Officer Raouf Ghabbour said management was optimistic that the expansion in the company s distribution and after-sales network will provide new sales opportunities.
Ghabbour Auto said in June it agreed to a $70 million joint venture with Brazil s Marcopolo to build a bus assembly plant in Suez on the Red Sea.
We also see strong export potential in a joint venture with global bus powerhouse Marcopolo of Brazil, the earnings statement quoted Ghabbour as saying.
Production from this new factory will target fast-growing markets in the Middle East and Africa when production begins in 2009, he added.
He said a capacity expansion that will be completed in the second quarter of 2009 would allow the company to assemble as many as 85,000 units a year, compared to the current capacity of 33,000 vehicles. -Reuters
