The GCC’s infrastructure boom over the past decade enabled Elsewedy Electric to achieve significant expansion up to 2011, with demand for housing and power generation resulting in growth in demand for cables and other electrical products.

However, the continued political instability in Egypt and civil conflict in Syria, a key market in recent years, resulted in revenues falling from E£15.2bn in 2011 to £E14.5bn last year. This had a significant impact on net profit, which fell 77 per cent from £E509m in 2011 to £E117m in 2012. 

In response, Elsewedy Electric has shifted its focus to emerging markets, including Iraq and the African continent. The sharp rise in demand for electricity in these areas should create further opportunities for the firm to boost revenues in the medium term.

Elsewedy Electric was part of a consortium awarded a $1bn deal in Libya in 2012 to repair electricity gridlines damaged in the 2011 civil war and to install new infrastructure. The firm’s move diversified presence across the Mena region, which should in future limit revenue exposure to any one single market. Despite a difficult 2012, the focus on emerging markets should ensure sufficient opportunity for growth and profit in the short-to-medium term.