Edita, Egypt’s largest producer of packaged snack food, is planning to start overseas operations to offset local currency fluctuations, Bloomberg’s Tamim Elyan writes. Chairman and Managing Director Hani Berzi says Edita is seeking to expand in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia through manufacturing projects and exports. The company had already announced plans to enter the Moroccan snack food market through a greenfield investment with Dislog Group last December. “We need the foreign currency and in times of crises companies with export proceeds enjoyed decent profitability. We think of exports as a must, not a plus … If things stabilize without surprises, the trajectory is always a smooth line of increasing volume, profitability and revenues,” Berzi says. Edita is focusing on restoring pre-devaluation profit margins by cutting costs and increasing the price of its products, he says. Berzi adds that Edita will invest EGP 120 mn this year, mainly on maintenance, and will decide whether to proceed with the second phase of its newly-opened EO8 factory in 2019 if it sees signs of “decent recovery,” he said.

Tags: