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Citadel issues first earnings release since Cairo listing

Citadel Capital (CCAP.CA ), a leading private equity firm in the Middle East and Africa, has announced its first first Earnings Release since listing on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) in 4Q 2009.

As of 31 December, 2009, the firm reported a total net asset value per share (TNAVPS) of USD2.83 (EGP 5.50), while total assets under management stood at USD3.7 billion (EGP20.2 billion)

The total net asset value (TNAV) captures the present value of Citadel Capital’s principal investments in the 19 Opportunity-Specific Funds that it controls as well as ithe asset-management component of the business.

Total invested assets under management were USD2.9 billion (EGP16.2 billion), up 9.5% from USD2.6 billion (EGP14.8 billion) the previous year. These include USD1.9 billion (EGP10.5 billion) of third-party fee-earning assets under management1 in addition to investments of USD757.2 million (EGP4.2 billion) of its own balance sheet in its transactions.

The firm had total investments under control2 of US$D.3 billion (EGP45.5 billion) as of year-end.

For the year ending December 2009, Citadel Capital reported net earnings of USD38.1 million (EGP211.4 million), a 806.7% increase from the previous year, on revenues of USD79.2 million (EGP 438.9 million).

“We are very pleased not just to have recorded a substantial gain in the net asset value of our portfolio in the last quarter of the year alone, but also to have grown both our top and bottom lines on the full year,” said Citadel Capital Chairman and Founder Ahmed Heikal (pictured). “This is particularly significant in light of the impact of the global financial crisis on markets and valuations across our Middle East and Africa footprint, which meant the year just past was not conducive to substantial exits, which are the primary drivers of earnings in our industry.”

New investments in 2009 included Wafra (agriculture in Sudan, representing 2.2% of new investments), Africa Railways (transportation in Kenya and Uganda, representing 9.7% of new investments), and Tawazon (solid waste management in Egypt and the Middle East, representing 4.4% of new investments). The Africa Railway investment came as the firm began deploying what it expects will be USD200-400 million in new equity in East Africa in 2010-12.

Citadel Capital recorded EGP271.4 million (USS48.9 million) in gains from the sale of some of its principal investments in FY09, a 37.4% rise over EGP 197.5 million the previous year. Sales included a partial exit of 6% of ASEC Holding and United Foundries, on-market sales of ASCOM shares and the spin-off of Sphinx Private Equity Management to Pharos Capital, a Portfolio Company of Citadel Capital’s Finance Unlimited Platform Company.

Since 2004, Citadel Capital has generated cash returns of more than USS2.5 billion to its shareholders and the co-investors in its Opportunity-Specific Funds.

“The year just ended was a challenging one for our industry across the world, but Citadel Capital has thrived,” said Heikal. “All of our existing investments are very much on track, and we see the coming two years as offering unparalleled opportunities.”

 

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