Orascom earnings fell 30.7 percent in Q3

Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) says year-on-year earnings fell 30.7 per cent in Q3, results in line with expectations Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), Egypt’s biggest publicly traded company, saw a 30.7 per cent fall in net income year-on-year in the third quarter of 2012, the company announced Wednesday. Third quarter profits fell to $127 million compared to $183 million in the same period a year earlier, primarily due to the seasonal slowdown. Beltone Financial said OCI's performance was negatively affected by the fasting month of Ramadan. Overall, net income increased from $119.4 million in the second quarter to $126.8 million in the third quarter, helped strong fertiliser sales. “OCI expects strong demand for its fertiliser products supported by strong fundamentals in the upcoming harvesting season, with an increase in prices,” chairman Nassef Sawiris said in a statement on Wednesday. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the fertiliser business were 34.3 per cent of total OCI sales in the third quarter, and the price per share was LE2.72. Increases in earnings are expected in the future with the OCI Beaumont and Iowa Fertilizer Company (IFCo) making stable progress in recent months, asserted Sawiris. Construction margins slumped to a low of 9 per cent, hurt mainly by the impact of provisioning on contracts and seasonal factors, according to Beltone. OCI expects better competitiveness as it is finalising the demerger of the company’s construction business from its fertilizer business, which is awaiting the final procedural approvals from the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA). From Ahramonline