Arabtec shares yesterday fell to their lowest level since early last month after an Egyptian newspaper said its high-profile housing project in the country had been cancelled.
The Egyptian daily Al Mal reported on Saturday that the Dubai-based contractor's US$40 billion agreement with the Egyptian army to build 1 million housing units, announced in March last year, had fallen through, citing an unnamed official at the ministry of housing.
Arabtec shares fell 3.3 per cent, their steepest fall in more than a week, closing the day at Dh2.33.
The report was denied by the Egyptian housing minister Mostafa Madbouly, speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Cairo, who said that the housing project with Arabtec was continuing.
Arabtec announced on April 22 that it was in discussion with a number of local and international banks for the financing of the first phase of the project, which would involve the construction of 100,000 low-cost homes in the cities of Obour and Badr to the east of Cairo.
But the company added that despite reporting that the deal had been agreed by Egypt’s ministry of housing on April 2, nearly three weeks later it still had not signed a final deal. A spokesman for Arabtec yesterday declined to comment.
Arabtec earlier this month reported a Dh279.8m loss for the first quarter of the year, compared with a profit of Dh137.9m a year ago.
The company blamed the loss on spiralling costs, with several clients implementing contract clauses, downscaling and re-prioritising projects.
jeverington@thenational.ae
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