Citadel Capital reports losses amid Egypt turmoil

Losses for the same time last year were only at $0.25 million. This year however, due to economic problems following Egypt’s January 25 Revolution, their losses widened substantially.

The firm also announced total assets under management (AUM) for Q1 of 2011 to be at $42.6 million.

The company’s total AUM have been rising 2.5 percent quarter on quarter, while principal investments stood at $916 million (LE 51. billion) at the end of Q1 2011, which was a 2.1 increase from $897.6 from the previous quarter, showing a 10.5 percent growth yearly.

“This post-revolutionary period has not been easy,” Citadel Capital Chairman and Founder Ahmed Heikal said in a statement posted on their website.

“Citadel Capital is still in a cash-preservation posture, our previously planned IPOs remain postponed, and we continue to expect lower-than-usual fund raising momentum for the balance of the year.”

The company’s Q1 ventures included the first commercial wheat harvest in Sudan’s Wafra city, the Nile Valley Petroleum Ltd. Farm-out agreement, and a $25.5 million agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to finalize completion of Grandview, the firm’s mid-cap investment fund.

According to Heikal, there were several events that occurred in the past months, which gave the company reason to “ask whether cautious optimism may be in order.”

Among these developments is the removal of Heikal’s name from the list of individuals prohibited from traveling outside of Egypt, the company’s receipt of a “comfort letter” from the petroleum ministry for the Egyptian Refining Company, and the company’s ranking as the largest private equity firm in Africa for the third year.