File Photo: Cigarettes are seen during the manufacturing process Reuters

The brokerage predicts that the state-owned company’s revenues will soar by 78 percent from FY2022/2023 to the end of FY2027/2028.

The company’s local production is likely to decline by an average of six percent annually in FY2022/2023 and FY2023/2024, according to Pakinam El-Etriby, consumers analyst at HC.

However, production is expected to stabilize and increase by an average of five percent annually over the following three fiscal years (ending in June 2028), El-Etriby stated.

Annual production is expected to reach 71.9 billion cigarettes by June 2028, he added.

HC Brokerage is a subsidiary of HC Securities and Investment, a leading investment bank in Egypt and the MENA region.

Price increase coming
 

An informed source from the Eastern Company told Ahram Online that prices are expected to increase in the near future, without providing an exact date.

The source stressed that the company is meeting local demand and refuted any claims of supply shortages on their end.

Instead, the source blamed market volatility on the significant black market for cigarettes.

An anticipated increase in taxes on cigarettes in FY2023/2024, which began in July, has recently disrupted the local supply of cigarettes and led to an increase in prices on the parallel market.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s tobacco exports have reached $35.8 million during the first four months of 2023.

Eastern Company posted a net profit of EGP 5.29 billion in the first nine months of FY2022/2023 (which ended in March), an annual rise of 24 percent from EGP 4.25 billion.

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