Citadel Capital, a leading investment company in Africa and the Middle East region, saw its assets rise more than five-fold on the balance sheet which hit EGP30 billion ($4.15 billion).

The company saw its full-year aggregate (non-statutory) revenues and ebitda of operational core and non-core companies soar to highest levels in eight quarters. The statutory financials report near-halving of full-year loss to EGP 384.9 million.

This comes amid the firm’s ongoing transformation into an investment company that holds majority stakes in most of its subsidiaries in five core industries: energy, transportation, agrifoods, mining and cement.  

The total aggregate (non-statutory) revenues at operational core and non-core companies rose 5.7 per cent to EGP 6.5 billion in 2013; that improvement was dwarfed by a 67.1 per cent increase in aggregate ebitda to EGP 553.5 million on the back of more efficient management and improving market conditions.

While now moving in the right direction, the management notes that ebitda-level improvements will only begin to impact the company’s bottom line later in 2014 and into 2015, particularly as energy subsidies are lifted — a core theme for many Citadel Capital platforms — and infrastructure spending continues to rise.

In the final quarter of the year, total aggregate (non-statutory) revenues at operational core and non-core companies surged 13.9 per cent to EGP1.7 billion.

Meanwhile, ebitda shot up 345.3 per cent to EGP 219.9 million, its highest level in the past eight quarters. This reflects stronger across-the-board performance, led by the cement and mining sectors.

“A relentless focus on operational improvements and cost optimization at both the Citadel Capital and subsidiary levels was a highlight of 2013 and remains the priority of the current year,” remarked Citadel Capital chairman and founder Ahmed Heikal.

“As this year progresses, we will maintain a laser focus on three themes: Exiting our investments in non-core holdings; using the proceeds from that divestment program to both deleverage and fuel growth at core subsidiaries; and investing in governance at the Citadel Capital and subsidiary levels to make certain we have the people and systems we need to make our growth sustainable,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service