Cairo – Mubasher: Qalaa Holdings (formerly Citadel Capital) said consolidated financial results for the first quarter of 2015 showed that net loss after tax and minority interest shrank by 51.6% to EGP 112.2 million, compared with EGP 231.9 million in the year-ago period.

The company is seeking to turn to profitability by the end of this year, in light of expected completion of divestitures of some subsidiaries and discontinued operations, in addition to a decline in interest expenses as it continues to reduce debt on the back of the ongoing deleveraging program, said Ahmed Heikal, founder and chairman of Qalaa.

He added that EBITDA rose eight times to EGP 275.8 million, compared with EGP 29 million in the first quarter of 2014.

The year 2015 represents a strong starting point for Qalaa’s operations, as the company’s financial performance reflects the recent operational developments and outcome of strategic transformation into a holding investment company, according to Heikal.

Qalaa’s net losses after minority interest narrowed 54% to EGP 879.6 million in 2014 compared with a loss of EGP 1.897 billion for the previous year.   

Total revenues rose 34% year-on-year to EGP 6,452.7 million in 2014.

Meanwhile, EBITDA in 2014 came in at EGP 651.9 million, representing a significant improvement over a negative EGP 23.1 million EBITDA in 2013.