Egypt’s developer Madinet Masr is considering expanding its operations to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets to offset economic downturn at home, the Company’s CEO said on Tuesday.

Abdullah Salam, commenting on the firm’s financial results, said it achieved record profits in fourth quarter of 2023 last year for the eighth successive quarter despite a surge in its loan portfolio due to high interest rates.

“Owing to the present economic conditions in Egypt, we are considering expanding abroad, especially in the GCC and North Africa,” Salam told CNBC Arabia news TV.

He said negotiations were under way to enter the Saudi market, the region’s largest, adding that a planned project in the Kingdom would be launched in the first half of 2024.

“We hope there will be more diversification in the company’s investment portfolio this year….I can say that 2024 will see the announcement of new projects,” he said.

Salam said the Company is working to reduce its debt and to resort to a new funding plan for the upcoming projects.

According to the Company’s results, net profits totalled 2.1 billion Egyptian pounds and revenue around EGP7.6 billion pounds in 2023.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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