Juhayna to cut investments in 2017 because of eroding purchase power

Juhayna is cutting investments in 2017 because it believes Egyptian consumers’ purchase power is being eroded, Ehab Farouk writes for Reuters. CEO Seif El Din Thabet told Farouk Juhayna will raise prices by 5-10% this year as he expects 1Q2017’s profits to fall, before beginning to improve in 2Q2017. "We have invested around [EGP 450 mn] in 2016 from a total of [EGP 500 mn] of expected investments …Our production capacity sufficient for our needs until 2018, accordingly there is no urgent need for expansion. We want to focus on improving our cash flow,” Thabet says.