Telecom Egypt posts profit loss

Egypt’s state-owned fixed-line company Telecom Egypt posted a 15% drop in second-quarter profits. The company blamed much of their losses on the reduction in tourism as a result of the January uprising that ousted the government.

Telecom Egypt posted a 15 percent drop in second-quarter profits (image: stock.xchng)

Telecom Egypt, in an emailed statement, said net profit in the second quarter amounted to 826.7 million Egyptian pounds. The telecom operator made a net profit of 971 million pounds in the year earlier, according to Zawya Dow Jones published data.

The latest quarterly result beat the 722 million pounds estimate of Cairo-based investment bank Beltone Financial, but fell short of the 877 million pounds result predicted by EFG Hermes.

“While the immediate effects of the Egyptian revolution started to subside during the quarter, the prevailing operating environment has yet to normalise in Egypt,” Telecom Egypt’s Chairman Akil Beshir said in a statement.

“Government curfews were fully lifted in mid-June, but tourism levels and business activities remain low and we continue to experience higher levels of copper cable theft than would be the case under normal conditions.”

Desmond Shephard