CAIRO: GB Auto, Egypt's biggest listed automobile assembler, said on Monday political turmoil dampened its second-quarter passenger car sales by 16 percent from a year earlier, a smaller decline than expected. The firm's first-quarter net income plunged 89 percent year on year after anti-government protests that erupted on January 25 brought much of the economy to a halt for nearly three weeks until president Hosni Mubarak resigned on February 11. GB Auto's passenger car unit sales grew 72 percent from the first quarter to 10,868 vehicles, the firm said in a statement. "We have posted a decisive quarter-on-quarter improvement in sales despite ongoing turmoil in our largest market and remain on track to grow our top line year-on-year in 2011," Chief Executive Officer Raouf Ghabbour said. "We have gained important market share in passenger cars and motorcycles while growing our three-wheeler and financing businesses," he added. GB Auto said motorcycle and three-wheeler unit sales reached record highs in the quarter, increasing by 27 percent from a quarter earlier and 64 percent from a year earlier. Year to date growth in this segment of GB Auto's operations was 54 percent. The firm began operations in Iraq in February 2010. Passenger car sales there grew 7.5 percent quarter-on-quarter. Sales in Iraq represented 37 percent of total revenue in the first quarter. GB Auto said it expected to report top-line growth in the second quarter of 2011 but was "cautions that foreign currency expenses, sales mix and some provisions will constrain margins". Shares in GB Auto rose 1.3 percent. The market closed before the news was released.
