Swvl "Confident" to avoid Delisting from Nasdaq

The CEO of SWVL, which specializes in mass transit services, said that he is confident that the company will achieve profitability in 2023, with the support of its activities in most of the countries in which the company operates, which will help remove the ambiguity surrounding the Egyptian company to avoid being delisted from Nasdaq.

Last July, Swvl Holdings expected its losses to increase to about $90 million this year, from $50 million in 2021, according to the company's chief financial officer, Youssef Salem. In an interview with "Al-Sharq Bloomberg",  Salem said at the time that the company would work to reduce the workforce and stop some flights that incur losses in Egypt, Jordan and Kenya.

Mustafa Kandil, CEO of the company, explained on the sidelines of the "Future Investment Initiative" conference in Riyadh on Tuesday that "Swvl" is now achieving profitability in 70% of the countries in which it operates, while focusing on expanding into European and Latin American markets.

 He revealed that the company is currently studying entering the US and British markets, and is seeking to add financial services to enable it to support its own activities related to working with companies and governments, including, for example, providing a salary payment service in advance, according to him.

According to the terms of "NASDAQ", it excludes companies that are unable to achieve profitability, and gives them 180 per day to fix their conditions, with the possibility of an extension for a similar period before being delisted in the event of default. 

Swvl faces a difficult task to maintain its listing in the market. In his interview with Al-Sharq, Qandil believes that the company has up to a year to avoid this, through the factors he mentioned and believes that they will help Swvl achieve profits in its financial statements, soon next year. 

"With the achievement of these profits, the uncertainty surrounding the company will be removed, and the attractiveness of "Swvl" will return, and thus avoid delisting from Nasdaq."

Swvl was listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in March 2022, after its merger with the American "Queens Gambit" in July 2021, with a valuation of $1.5 billion at the time, resulting in a company called Swvl Holdings Corp.