SODIC doubles profits, sees silver lining in Egypt's currency crisis

SODIC, Egypt's third-largest listed real estate developer, more than doubled its full year profit in 2015 as demand for housing in Cairo's affluent eastern suburbs and coastal summer homes grows. The company reported on Wednesday a 108 percent rise in full year net profit to 321.3 million Egyptian pounds ($35.9 million) in 2015, from 154.3 million a year earlier.
Projects in East Cairo were the main driver of the results, contributing 63 percent of SODIC's contracted sales in 2015 and reflecting growing demand.
Demand for new housing in Egypt remains strong and the sector has been resilient despite political turmoil. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the military chief who ousted Egypt's president in 2013 following mass protests, has promoted several housing schemes.
SODIC doubled its land bank in 2015 by adding 3.3 million square metres (sqm), bringing the total undeveloped land at its disposal to 6 million sqm.
The acquisitions included a 441,000 sqm (100 acre) plot on Egypt's North Coast in an area where upper class Egyptians buy summer homes. The land was used to develop SODIC's first North Coast project, named Caesar.
"It was a great experience; most of the project was sold out in a short period of time," Managing Director Magued Sherif told Reuters in an interview at his suburban office.
"We are launching the second, final, phase this summer and are looking at different opportunities to acquire new plots on the North Coast."
Caesar contributed 671 million pounds, about 16 percent of achieved sales in 2015. The remaining 21 percent, 928 million pounds, came from sales in gated communities on Cairo's western outskirts where the company started.
Sherif, who took over only in September, said SODIC's strength as a company ensured it was not affected during a period of management change. His predecessor resigned in June after spending 10 years at the company.
The company earlier this month signed an agreement with Heliopolis Housing to jointly develop 655 acres of land in east Cairo for commercial and residential use. The project is set to start in 2017, Sherif said.