Sixth of October for Development and Investment Company’s (SODIC) gross contracted sales of residential units stood at EGP 1.83 bn in H1 2020, almost flat compared to EGP 1.86 bn in the year-ago period, Invest-Gate reports.

“Strong sales performance in July has brought the seven-month gross sales value to 2019 levels, despite the negative impact of COVID-19,” read the company’s press release on August 12.

In total, SODIC sold 383 units in the January-June period, bringing gross contracted sales to EGP 1.89 bn, down 26% from EGP 2.54 bn in the prior-year results. Commercial sales contributed 3.2% to the H1 2020 gross contracted sales versus 27% during the same period in 2019.

“West Cairo represented 60%, driven by SODIC’s newest projects; The Estates and VYE, which combined contributed 43% to the gross contracted sales during the period, with Allegria Residence contributing another 10%,” the EGX-listed developer stated, noting, “East Cairo represented 40% of the period’s gross contracted sales, mainly from Villette which contributed 29%.”

“During the first half of 2019, SODIC delivered some 256 units, of which 67% were in east Cairo projects, namely Eastown Residences and Villette. This compares to 441 units delivered during the same period in 2019 … In July, deliveries increased to 161 units across all projects,” it continued, citing construction costs of EGP 1.58 bn in H1 2020.

Meanwhile, SODIC’s net profits plummeted by 80% year-on-year (YoY) to hit nearly EGP 69.3 mn in H1 2020, down from EGP 337.9 mn in the year-ago period. In addition, the developer’s revenues slid to almost EGP 1.07 bn during the first half of this year, from EGP 2.02 bn in H1 2019.

In Q1 2020, SODIC had announced logging a 25% uptick in residential contractual sales to EGP 842 mn versus EGP 672 mn in the year-ago period, driven mainly by its west Cairo projects, despite lower consumer confidence due to the Coronavirus woes, according to a previous statement.

Likewise, revenues totaled EGP 429 mn during the first three months of 2020, compared to EGP 941 mn in the corresponding period last year. This ought to handovers in east Cairo which amount to 60% of deliveries during the period, with properties in west Cairo representing 38%, it revealed back then.