With Egypt being on the verge of a transformation after going through what can only be defined as a major transition, the challenges are still there to overcome. Since 2011, Egypt’s foreign debt has spiked dramatically, with the Egyptian government strictly relying on aid and loans from Gulf countries for survival. This only serves to place more strain on an economy already reeling from more than two years of stagnation. That said, we believe Egypt is more than capable of weathering this economic storm into more prosperous times. Our own performance throughout the previous year fully attests to our ability to hold our own during desperate times.

During FY2012, Raya managed to achieve 80% of the year’s planned objectives. Consolidated revenues reached 2.9 billion EGP, a 12.2% increase from YE2011, showing our resilience despite prevalent downward trends. Net profit after tax and minority increased by 41.5% from YE2011 to reach 50.6 million EGP. We are in the process of writing a new chapter in Raya’s success story. During the past four years, we pursued a vision to transform Raya into an investment holding company, through expansions into new territories and markets. To that end, we invested almost EGP700 million in expanding our core operations, yielding the desired result of enforcing our market position even further. Alongside that, we explored other promising investments in new markets. Our four already present main lines of business were complimented by five more, which we have seamlessly integrated into our core operations: Raya Smart Buildings, Raya Social Media, Ostool, BariQ and Raya Data Center. These additions served to enhance the already present diversity of our revenue streams, which hedges us in the face of a number of scenarios that might occur in the coming years and ensures our financial solidity and stamina remain intact.

A market leader no matter where we are

On another note, I am happy to announce the establishment of our newest industrial icon, BariQ. The first of its kind in Africa and the second of its kind in the Middle East. A recycling and manufacturing. mega-plant for recycling plastic materials and the processing of discarded consumer bottles into food grade PET pellets, it reached almost 100% of it production capacity – that is mostly exported to Europe - during its first year of operation, 2012. In 2012, we invested more that 120 million EGP in supporting Raya’s lines of business and investment portfolio, namely Raya Smart Buildings, BariQ, Ostool and Fawry and we are committed to increase our spending even more as we go forward.

We aim to extend our regional presence as we seek even more investment opportunities to maximize diversity. We see this strategy as ideal in mitigating the country’s current instability and increasing, our foreign currency resources. Over the years, we acquired many talented and skilled human resources that we capitalized on - and continue to capitalize on - to maintain and continue our steady growth pattern. To Raya’s employees, I thank you for your unwavering commitment to our vision. Finally, I reiterate my every confidence that we will make it through the storm and continue in our footsteps. Despite the challenges we face, our commitment is to create value to our stakeholders and protect their interests.