Eastern Company reports 17% y-o-y drop in bottomline for 1H FY 2023-24

Eastern Company’s bottomline falls due to drop in cigarette sales: The tobacco giant saw its bottomline fall 17% y-o-y in the first half of the fiscal year 2023-2024 to EGP 2.9 bn, it said in its latest earnings release (pdf). The EGX-listed company attributed the fall in net income to “decreases in local cigarette sales segment volume by 43% y-o-y,” which contributed to revenues dropping 20% y-o-y in the same period to EGP 7.9 bn.

But the company saw a rebound on a quarterly basis, recording a 58% q-o-q jump in net income in 2Q FY 2023-24 to EGP 1.8 bn. Revenue also increased on a quarterly basis, jumping 54% on the back of a 62% increase in the value of the local cigarette sales.

ICYMI- The Madbouly government completed the sale of a 30% stake in Eastern Company in November for USD 625 mn to UAE-based Global Investment Holding — one of the largest transactions for the country’s privatization strategy after it restarted the program last year.