Orange Egypt losses soar by 4415% in seven months

French telecoms company Orange has suffered significant losses in Egypt during the first seven months of the year, its financial indicators showed Tuesday.

The company’s losses in Egypt had further broadened to 1.44 billion Egyptian pounds ($81.6 million) in seven months, around 4415 percent higher from losses worth 31.9 million pounds in the same period a year ago.

On the other hand, revenues rose to 6.79 billion pounds from 6.45 billion pounds last year.

The jump in losses was due to three factors, the group said in earlier statement in July. The first was the increase in the number of loans given to Orange Egypt, the statement said citing the high interest rates to 400 points which raised the borrowing costs in return.

The second factor was the high interest rates which led to the increase in the operating costs, such as the hikes in fuel and electricity prices, the statement added.

As for the third factor, the group referred to the impact of the liberalisation of the Egyptian pound against foreign currencies in early November 2016, which also affected the company’s operating costs.