Swvl is not dropping off of Nasdaq just yet, as company turns to the black in 2025

If you’ve seen Nasdaq’s delisting notice for Dubai-headquartered mobility startup Swvl from last November, you might think it’s on a crash course — especially if you check its market cap, which is currently at USD 15.7 mn, way below the USD 35 mn threshold Nasdaq requires. You might also remember it’s not their first delisting notice, with the company getting several more back in 2023. But the actual story is a little more complicated than that.

Listed companies only need to meet one of three standards to remain listed on the stock exchange, and the market cap threshold is just one of them, according to Nasdaq’s latest listing guide (pdf). The other two standards are: if the company’s net income exceeds USD 500k (in the last fiscal year or two of the three most recent fiscal years), or if total shareholders’ equity exceeds USD 2.5 mn.

While the Dubai-headquartered company falls short on the final standard, its net income and shareholders’ equity sit comfortably above those thresholds, according to its 2025 earnings presentation (pdf). The company recorded a gain last year, with net income coming in at USD 1.3 mn, up from a net loss in 2024. Meanwhile, its total equity is currently at USD 2.9 mn, up from USD 680k the year before.

The turnaround came as revenues grew 41% y-o-y to USD 24.2 mn, and as its restructuring earlier in 2023 and 2024 — with a larger focus on B2B and B2G contracts — started reflecting in its balance sheet, Swvl CFO Ahmed Misbah told EnterpriseAM. The net loss from the past few years were a result of the unwinding and restructuring the firm undertook, which was largely expected, as CEO Mostafa Kandil told us earlier in 2024. They were wagering on those turnaround strategies to reap some results in 2025, as Kandil said at the time — which it did.

The company’s strategy was to focus on expanding in the Gulf and the US — both moves for which it has already started to make strides. Its Gulf revenues grew 122% y-o-y to USD 8 mn, and a bulk of that is thanks to its growth in the UAE, Misbah said. The company relaunched operations in the UAE — after halting them earlier due to low margins — early 2025, and it has since secured four large enterprise contracts there, he added. That includes a USD 5.5 mn one it announced last February.

Earlier in its expansion phase, the startup was focusing on growth and market entry, even if at extremely low margins. That’s changing now, Misbah said, adding that the company has become “more disciplined about the contracts we take on, and no longer pursue that low margin on account of top-line growth.”

Gross margins fell slightly to 18.2% last year, mostly due to early-stage contracts in the UAE carrying lower margins, according to the presentation. Still, they’re much higher than where they were pre-restructuring, at about 14-18%, and are expected to rise further as “we deepen our understanding of clients’ operations and our route optimization takes effect,” he explained.

“The GCC remains one of our highest priority areas and segments for multiple reasons, firstly because we understand the market inside out, and we have connections across the region that we’re now able to cross-leverage across multiple geographies,” Misbah said. While Saudi Arabia remains its largest market, Misbah expects the UAE to “take off” pretty soon, and it’s also secured its first contract in Kuwait. Qatar is also on their radar, he added.

Egypt is still its biggest market in terms of revenue share, with revenues growing 20% y-o-y to USD 16.2 mn.

Meanwhile, in the US, the company is still in its early stages of operations, with the first hire made there recently expected to build up a sales pipeline in that market, Misbah said. The company is expected to build its staff and invest more resources there as they secure more contracts, he noted. Their first order of business? Shuttle buses for the 2026 World Cup.

Looking ahead? The company expects growth to accelerate into FY 2026. That growth is also of much “higher quality,” the firm said in its presentation, reflected by a larger portion of recurring and USD-denominated revenues.

It also plans to invest further in its investor relations, which it expects to help prop up its share value, he said, especially after working largely “in stealth mode” over the past few years while it was deep in its restructuring strategy. The company’s shares rose 2.5% yesterday to close at USD 1.62 apiece, down sharply from their listing price of USD 9.95.