عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

‘Managem’ Sales Drop 13%

Heavy machinery is seen at a phosphate mine at Boucraa factory of the National Moroccan phosphate company (OCP) situated in the southern provinces, 100 km southwest of the town of Laayoune February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
Heavy machinery is seen at a phosphate mine at Boucraa factory of the National Moroccan phosphate company (OCP) situated in the southern provinces, 100 km southwest of the town of Laayoune February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
TT
TT

‘Managem’ Sales Drop 13%

Heavy machinery is seen at a phosphate mine at Boucraa factory of the National Moroccan phosphate company (OCP) situated in the southern provinces, 100 km southwest of the town of Laayoune February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
Heavy machinery is seen at a phosphate mine at Boucraa factory of the National Moroccan phosphate company (OCP) situated in the southern provinces, 100 km southwest of the town of Laayoune February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

Group Managem announced Tuesday a 13 percent drop in its sales in the first half of 2019, totaling MAD2.16 billion (USD227.5 million) end of June.

The company attributed the fall in sales to the sharp decline in metal prices in global markets amid an economic slowdown. It noted that copper prices during the same period dropped around 11 percent, while prices of cobalt went down 62 percent and that of Zinc 16 percent, lead 20 percent and silver 9 percent.

The firm said it managed to balance the price drop impact on its revenues by increasing output.

It highlighted that its silver production in Imider Mine, in southern Morocco, increased 35 percent while its cobalt output went up 36 percent. Further, gold production skyrocketed in Manub project in Sudan, following the operation of its new division in February.

Managem’s investments reached MAD798 million (USD84 million) in the first half of 2019, a 25 percent increase from the same period last year. Thirty percent of this investment was directed to develop new metal projects.

The company’s debts rose to MAD3.52 billion (USD370 million), a 28 percent increase from the end of 2018. It was the result of investment expansion efforts, mainly in Sudan’s gold mines.

Moreover, Managem purchased 30 percent of the National Metal Manufacturing and Casting Co.’s capital for USD21 million, enhancing its share in the Guinean company to 84 percent.

Most Viewed

 
 
Business

ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
TT
TT

ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde renewed her call for economic integration across Europe on Friday, arguing that intensifying global trade tensions and a growing technology gap with the United States create fresh urgency for action.
US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs on most if not all imports and said Europe would pay a heavy price for having run a large trade surplus with the US for decades.
"The geopolitical environment has also become less favorable, with growing threats to free trade from all corners of the world," Lagarde said in a speech, without directly referring to Trump.
"The urgency to integrate our capital markets has risen."
While Europe has made some progress, EU members tend to water down most proposals to protect vested national interests to the detriment of the bloc as a whole, Reuters quoted Lagarde as saying.
But this is taking hundreds of billions if not trillions of euros out of the economy as households are holding 11.5 trillion euros in cash and deposits, and much of this is not making its way to the firms that need the funding.
"If EU households were to align their deposit-to-financial assets ratio with that of US households, a stock of up to 8 trillion euros could be redirected into long-term, market-based investments – or a flow of around 350 billion euros annually," Lagarde said.
When the cash actually enters the capital market, it often stays within national borders or leaves for the US in hope of better returns, Lagarde added.
Europe therefore needs to reduce the cost of investing in capital markets and must make the regulatory regime easier for cash to flow to places where it is needed the most.
A solution might be to create an EU-wide regulatory regime on top of the 27 national rules and certain issuers could then opt into this framework.
"To bypass the cumbersome process of regulatory harmonization, we could envisage a 28th regime for issuers of securities," Lagarde said. "They would benefit from a unified corporate and securities law, facilitating cross-border placement, holding and settlement."
Still, that would not solve the problem that few innovative companies set up shop in Europe, partly due to the lack of funding. So Europe must make it easier for investment to flow into venture capital and for banks to fund startups, she said.