Ghabbour Auto’s first-quarter net profit dropped 70 percent, the Egyptian auto distributor announced in a bourse statement Wednesday.
The country’s distributor of tuk-tuks and motorbikes made by India’s Bajaj Auto has been affected by a currency crisis that has made importing more difficult.
Net profit fell to 14.1 million Egyptian pounds ($1.59 million) from 47.1 million a year earlier.
Egypt’s largest listed auto assembler and distributor said sales fell to 2.9 billion pounds from 3.2 billion.
The country’s reserves more than halved to $17 billion in April and the central bank has been rationing dollars, giving priority to importers of essential goods and imposed a monthly cap of $50,000 on cash deposits at banks to fight a black market for dollars.
On March 14 the central bank devalued the Egyptian pound by around 13 percent and said it would adopt a more flexible exchange rate policy.
Egypt has struggled to draw back tourists and foreign investors to revive its economy since a popular uprising in 2011.
Source: Reuters
