UAE’s Swvl Becomes Profitable in H1 2023
The firm posted operating cash inflows from operating activities of $2.2 million in H1 2023.
Swvl Holdings Corp, previously based in Cairo and now based in Dubai, has registered net profits of $2 million in the first half (H1) of 2023, compared to net losses of $159.7 million in H1 of 2022, the firm said in a financial statement.[1]
The firm posted cash inflows from operating activities of $2.2 million in H1 2023, versus operating outflows of $76.830 million a year earlier. Revenues hit $11.1 million between January andJune period of 2023, down from $21.7 million during the same period in 2022.
In 2022, the tech-enabled mass transit startup made headlines when it completed its SPAC merger with Queen's Gambit Growth Capital and began trading on the US Nasdaq at $9.95 per share, making it the second Arab tech company after Anghami to be listed on Nasdaq. [2] Swvl received a $1.5 billion unicorn valuation after raising $445 million from its IPO, but has had financial woes since then, which led to its share price dropping by more than 98% between April 2022 and January of last year. Between May and November of 2022, the company carried out mass layoffs and conducted financial austerity measures in an effort to cut its losses.
Last year, Swvl received multiple delisting notices from Nasdaq for non-compliance, due to the sharp devaluation of its listed securities dropped below the mandatory $50 million mark, the last of which came in December. The company has until 18 June, 2024, to demonstrate compliance to Nasdaq Rule 5450(a)(1), which mandates that the company's closing bid price for its Class A ordinary shares remain above $1.00 per share for at least 30 consecutive business days. [3]
Swvl, which was founded in Cairo in 2017 by Mostafa Kandil, Mahmoud Nouh, and Ahmed Sabbah, allows commuters to reserve seats on private buses running on fixed routes and pay fees via its smartphone app. The company, which has operations in 16 countries, entered Europe and Brazil in August 2021 with the acquisition of Shotl, a Spanish Uber-like service for bus and van owners.