Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital's first-quarter net loss widened by 43 percent from a year earlier to $26.4 million, dragged down by fees paid to refinance some of its debt and losses at engineering and construction arm ASEC. It said assets under management had risen 4.9 percent to $4.4 billion in the 12 months to the end of March 2012.
The company said that during the quarter it had paid $9 million in fees to access a $150 million credit facility with the US government's Overseas Investment Corporation (OPIC). During the quarter, Citadel drew down $81.3 million from the facility.
"Setting aside the net effect of one-time fees related to Citadel Capital's refinanced debt and the OPIC-backed facility, the firm would have recorded a 9 percent narrowing of its consolidated loss," the company said in an emailed statement.
The OPIC funds would be used to improve the terms and tenors of some of its loans and help the business plans of some of its portfolio companies, it said.
The private equity firm, which focuses on the Middle East and Africa, said ASEC Holding had also been hurt by production stoppages, widening Citadel's portion of ASEC's net loss by 61 percent year on year to $10.7 million.
Work at a number of ASEC's cement factories was shut down for repairs and maintenance during the quarter, and its construction arms had suffered because of Egypt's weak economy, Citadel said.
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