Tag: Eastern Co.

Foreign Investors Bid for Stake in Eastern Co.

Photo: Jose
Foreign investors have submitted bids for a 30 percent stake in Egypt’s largest tobacco producer, Eastern Co., reports Ahram Online, citing an Aug. 22 statement from the Egyptian stock exchange.
According to news reports, Japan Tobacco International is one of the investors considering the deal.
Eastern’s majority shareholder, the state-owned Chemical Industries Holding Co. (CIHC), is reportedly studying the offers and conducting due diligence.
In addition to CIHC, which has a 50.95 percent stake, Eastern’s current shareholders include the tobacco company’s employees’ union and South Africa’s Allan Grey Equity Fund, which each own 5.2 percent of the company. The remaining 9 percent is traded on the Egyptian exchange.
In the first nine months of fiscal 2022–2023, Eastern reported a net profit of EGP5.29 billion ($171.22 million), up 24 percent over that recorded in the previous financial year.
The potential sale is part of Egypt’s plans to offer stakes in 32 state-owned companies to strategic investors under the country’s commitments to the International Monetary Fund, which has offered a $3 billion loan.
The nation is struggling with a $17 billion financial imbalance through 2026 and a local shortage of U.S. dollars.
To date, the state assets sale program has generated around $2 billion.
August 22, 2023
Eastern Boosts Production to Cigarette End Shortage
Egypt’s Eastern Co. will provide 50 million more cigarettes daily starting Aug. 13, 2023, to alleviate the prevailing cigarette crisis, reports Ahram Online.
The company will increase the number of cigarettes in the market to 150 million per day, up from 100 million cigarettes, Eastern Co.’s Managing Director and CEO Hany Aman was quoted as saying.
Tobacco prices have surged recently on the black market amid a shortage of supply in the market.
Aman said that by boosting supply in the market, the company aims to control unjustified price hikes and curb speculative practices by some traders, who began to stockpile cigarettes after they heard of a new cigarette taxation legislation.
The MD expected cigarette prices to return to normal within three to four weeks following the production increase.
Fakhry El-Fiqi MP, who heads the Planning and Budget Committee in the House of Representatives, recently said that the committee will discuss a new cigarette taxation law at the beginning of the fourth legislative session in October.
According to Eastern Co., Egyptians spent EGP17 billion ($550.15 million) cigarettes during the 2021-2022 fiscal year.
August 12, 2023
Eastern Co. Increases Prices of 10 Brands

Photo: Ahmed
The Eastern Co. in Egypt has increased the prices of 10 popular cigarette brands, reports the Daily News Egypt.
The new prices took effect Sept. 4, after receiving approval from the company’s board of directors in accordance with the provisions of Egypt’s VAT and health insurance laws.
Eastern Co. Managing Director and CEO Hani Aman attributed the price hikes to a rise in the cost of raw materials. We were careful to make the increase as low as possible,” he was quoted as saying.
The price increases ranged from EGP1.5 ($0.08) to EGP2 and included popular brands like Cleopatra Box, Cleopatra Super and Mondial.
This is Eastern Co.’s second price increase in about six months. In March, the company increases the prices of 10 types of local cigarettes by rates ranging from 4.3 percent to 9.5 percent.
The Eastern Co. reported an after-tax net profit of EGP4.25 billion during the nine months ending in in March, up 9 percent over the comparable 2021 period.
Sales increased by 6 percent to reach EGP51.47 billion during the period from July 2021 to March 2022, compared to EGP48.74 billion in the same period of last year.
September 5, 2022
Eastern to Move to 6th of October City

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Eastern Co. of Egypt intends to transfer all production capacities from its factories to the industrial complex in 6th of October City within two years, reports Daily News Egypt.
According to Managing Director Hany Aman, the company inaugurated the industrial complex with the aim of integrating all its production capacity.
The license of the Moharram Bey factory is about to expire. An economic feasibility study revealed that Eastern Co. would be better off transferring production of that factory than increasing investment at the exiting location.
The Ministry of Environment and the Industrial Development Authority must still approve the transfer process.
In related news, Eastern Co.’s board of directors approved new consumer prices for the company’s cigarette products to account for higher raw material cost and fourfold increase in freight prices caused by the disruption of supply chains around the world.
Cleopatra Box 10 now costs EGP11.5 ($0.73), Cleopatra King Size costs EGP18.5 and Boston/Belmont costs EGP19.5.
Aman said the company seeks to strike a balance between maintaining its profit margin and the interests of smokers. Eastern Co. is currently studying the prices of cigars and molasses.
Eastern Co.’s profits increased by 15 percent to EGP2.92 billion in the first half of fiscal year 2021–2022. The company’s revenues grew to EGP8.53 billion from EGP8.16 billion during that period. Eastern Co. sold about 5.5 billion cigarettes in February.
March 7, 2022
Egypt Increases Prices Of Popular Cigarettes

Photo: Jose
Eastern Co. of Egypt has increased prices for 10 types of cigarettes, reports Egypt Independent
The retail price of Cleopatra Box (10 cigarettes) rises to EGP11.50 ($0.73), Cleopatra King Size (20 cigarettes) rises to EGP18.50 and Cleopatra Soft Queen (20 cigarettes) rises to EGP19.
In January 2018, the Egyptian House of Representatives approved an increase in cigarette prices to finance comprehensive health insurance by EGP0.75 per pack of 20 cigarettes, and an increase of EGP0.25 piasters every three years until the increase reaches EGP1.5 at the end of the period.
Eastern Co. is the largest producer of tobacco in Egypt. The company was established on July 12, 1920, by a decree from Sultan Ahmed Fouad.
March 2, 2022
Muharram Bek Suspends Production

Photo: Hassan
Eastern Co. has suspended production at its Muharram Bek cigarette factory until it has calculated its requirements, reports Zawya, citing a statement filed to the Egyptian Exchange.
Recent improvements to the work system have resulted in higher manufacturing efficiencies and, thus, surplus production.
Inventory has grown beyond Eastern Co.’s required levels from seven to 15 days. The Muharram Bek factory accounts for 3 percent to 5 percent of Eastern Co.’s total production volume.
Eastern Co.’s portfolio includes cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco and molasses tobacco, as well as filter rods and homogenized tobacco.
December 21, 2021
Eastern Co. Posts Record Results

Photo: Ludmila
Eastern Co. of Egypt achieved record sales and production volumes in fiscal 2020-2021, reports Daily News Egypt.
The company manufactured about 70 billion local cigarettes, 16 percent more than in its previous fiscal year. Sales increased by 12 percent to 67 billion cigarettes 2020-2021.
Eastern Co. also recorded a net income of EGP16 billion ($1.02 billion) in 2020-2021, compared to EGP14.5 billion in 2019-2020. Profits totaled EGP4.28 billion, up from the EGP 3.79 billion in the previous year.
The company is also exploring the sale reduced-risk smoking products in Egypt.
In an Oct. 17 statement to the Egyptian Exchange, Eastern Co. said it had examined the potential consumption and demand for such products in the local market.
October 19, 2021
Egypt Amends Invitation for Tobacco Bid

Photo: マサコアーント from Pixabay
Authorities in Egypt have issued an amended invitation for tobacco companies to bid for a license to manufacture cigarettes, according to Reuters. The amended invitation follows complaints that the terms of the license previously offered were too narrow.
The state-controlled Eastern Co. currently holds a 70 percent market share, and this new bid for license could end the company’s monopoly.
Under the amended terms, the winning bidder would produce 1 billion cigarettes per year as opposed to 15 billion cigarettes per year. The updated terms also removed a rule stating any other licenses would not be offered after the tender for a decade.
The deadline for the amended bid is Aug. 1.
June 3, 2021
Egypt Postpones License Auction

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
Egypt has postponed a tender for a license to manufacture cigarettes and vapor products, reports Reuters, citing industry sources.
An auction for the license, which would have ended a decades-old monopoly by the state-controlled Eastern Co., was due to be held on April 6.
“What we understand … is that the postponement is for an indefinite period … Certainly, the conditions for the auction will be changed if it is held again,” one source told Reuters.
Earlier, several bidders had asked the Federation of Egyptian Industries to change the conditions of the license.
According to the companies, the conditions protect Eastern Co.’s market share by preventing the new company from producing cigarettes at the same price point as the monopoly’s mass-market Cleopatra brand, which accounts for 98 percent of Eastern Co.’s revenues.
On March 21, the tobacco manufacturer announced that the IDA has invited companies to the tobacco industry through tendering a new cigarette production license.
The monopoly reported a 14 percent year-on-year increase in its net profit in the second half of 2020, recording EGP2.54 billion ($161.52 million).
Eastern Co.’s product portfolio includes cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco and molasses tobacco as well as cigarette filter rods and homogenized tobacco.
April 5, 2021
Bidders Ask Egypt to Adjust Terms of Auction

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
Several tobacco manufacturers have asked the Federation of Egyptian Industries to change the conditions of a manufacturing license auction issued by the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), reports Zawya.
According to the companies, the IDA conditions protect Eastern Co.’s market share by preventing the new company from producing cigarettes at the same price point as the monopoly’s mass-market Cleopatra brand, which accounts for 98 percent of Eastern’s revenues.
On March 21, the tobacco manufacturer announced that the IDA has invited companies to the tobacco industry through tendering a new cigarette production license.
Eastern could own 24 percent of the to-be-established company without paying its share in the cost of the license.
The monopoly reported a 14 percent year-on-year increase in its net profit in the second half of 2020, recording EGP2.54 billion ($161.52 million).
Eastern company’s product portfolio includes cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco and molasses tobacco as well as cigarette filter rods and homogenized tobacco.
March 30, 2021