Orascom Empire: Nassef Sawiris
Nassef Sawiris (born in 1961), the youngest of the three sons of Onsi Sawiris, has been a Director and the Chief Executive Officer of Orascom Construction Industries – OCI (OCIC.CA) since its incorporation in 1998 and assumed Chairmanship in 2010. Mr. Sawiris oversaw the construction activities of Orascom since 1990.
He is also one of the largest shareholders in and a director on the Board of Lafarge S.A., the world’s leading building materials conglomerate. He is also a director of the Dubai International Financial Exchange (Nasdaq DIFC) and of NNS Holding, a privately-owned investment group.
As of 2011 his net worth was estimated by Forbes to be $5.6 billion, making him the 182nd richest person in the world. Sawiris holds 1,671 Lafarge shares.
Career:
Nassef Sawiris was appointed to the Lafarge Board of Directors in January 2008. Nassef Sawiris is the major shareholder, Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer of Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), currently the largest listed company on the Egyptian Stock Exchange.
Mr Sawiris joined the Orascom Group in 1992 and became the Chief Executive Officer of Orascom Construction Industries in 1998 ahead of its initial public offering, which was successfully completed in 1999. He leads the company in devising its investment strategies. He led the establishment of its cement business, investments in natural gas industries and significant geographic expansion of the construction group.
Through investment in complementary business, Sawiris has grown the family business into an international corporation. He is also a Director of the BESIX Group (Belgium) and of NNS holding, a privately-owned investment group in Luxembourg and a Director of the Dubai international Financial Exchange (Nasdaq DIFC). He joined Citigroup’s international Adisory Board in 2010. Nassef Sawiris holds a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago, USA.
His term of office expires after the General Meeting called to approve the 2011 financial statements.
Education:
Mr. Sawiris holds a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago. He was born in 1961 and is an Egyptian citizen.
Nassef Sawiris received his secondary education in the German International School of Cairo, Egypt. Then he continued at University of Chicago where he received a bachelor’s degree in Economics in 1982.
He is a member of the Business Secretariat of the Egyptian National Democratic Party, the American Chamber of Commerce, the German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Young President’s Club.
Orascom Construction Industries:
Shareholders in Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) (OCIC.CA) have approved a plan to separate its construction and fertiliser businesses into two new companies, the group said on May 17.
The move is designed to make the two entities more competitive, widen their investor base, make their management more flexible and improve their credit profiles.
“OCI reported a record shareholder participation rate of 84.48 percent of the company’s total outstanding shares at the extraordinary general meeting,” it said in a statement.
Egypt’s regulator, Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA), must approve the move before it can go ahead.
http://amwalalghad.com/en/the-watch/indices-news/4351-orascom-construction-meeting-shareholders-approve-split.html
Later in July, Orascom Construction has reported a 54 % fall in first-quarter net income, partly due to the sale of a stake in U.S. grains merchant Gavilon and also lower sales volumes and a drop in prices at OCI’s fertilizer business.
OCI, Egypt’s biggest company by market value, is in the process of splitting its construction and fertilizer businesses into two new companies. It has been benefiting from infrastructure growth across the Middle East despite economic turmoil at home.
The net profit fell to $94 million from $206.3 million in the same period a year earlier. That compares to a consensus estimate by 14 analysts of $129.5 million.
Consolidated revenue rose by 1.4 percent to $1.28 billion from $1.26 billion while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization dropped 24 percent to $255.8 million from $334.8 million in the same period a year earlier.
“Our first quarter results have been impacted by lower selling prices for ammonia and melamine,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Nassef Sawiris said in a statement.
“Moving forward, we expect to weather the impacts on the first quarter results with the resurgence in fertilizer prices during late March and increases in production rates from our new fertilizer plants,” Sawiris said. He also said the firm expected an improvement in earnings for the rest of the year.
OCI’s consolidated order backlog at end-March grew to $6.5 billion, a 1.4 percent increase from the end-December figure and a 15.5 percent jump from the same period a year earlier.
The company registered new orders worth $841 million during the quarter, with infrastructure and industrial work making up 61 percent of the construction group’s backlog.
OCI said in late May it would earn $605 million from the sale of its 16.8 percent stake in U.S. grains merchant Gavilon to Japanese trading house Marubeni.
The deal is part of a $3.6 billion takeover by Marubeni of Gavilon, whose other owners include billionaire investor George Soros and hedge fund manager Dwight Anderson.
The investment income related to the Gavilon stake was taken out during the quarter and reclassified as an investment held for sale, OCI said.
