Egypt's Citadel to Recover Some Losses as Assets Rise

Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital will recover some losses that were incurred because of falling asset values, Managing Director Stephen Murphy said. "As the stock market recovers and asset values improve, that will have a positive impact on our numbers," he said in an interview on the sidelines of a financial conference. "The losses we reported are very notional. We had to write down the value of some assets in the past but now that the Egyptian stock market is up almost 45 percent since the beginning of the year, we can start writing them back."

The stock market tumbled after the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak early last year but has begun to recover with signs of returning political and economic stability. Murphy also said Citadel has no immediate plans to float any of its companies but is looking at selling at least three non-core assets. "Each will hopefully bring us close to $50 million. This will positively impact our numbers." Citadel said earlier this month that its consolidated second-quarter net loss narrowed to 124.2 million Egyptian pounds ($20.4 million) from 180.5 million a year earlier. The firm, which focuses on the Middle East and Africa, said assets under management increased by $228.8 million to $3.6 billion.