ValU prepares to launch its activities in Saudi Arabia before 2022-end

 EFG Hermes’ consumer finance arm valU prepares to expand its business in Saudi Arabia before the end of this year.

valU works on completing all the necessary operational measures in cooperation with Saudi Al-Hokair Group, which recently acquired a share of about 5% of the platform, and also with Marakez Company, to provide financing for vaIU’s points of sale, merchants, provided that it would expand with other products later.

Last June, Fawaz Abdul Aziz Al Hokair, Salman Abdul Aziz Al Hokair, and Abdul Majid Abdulaziz Al Hokair reached an agreement to purchase a 4.99% stake in ValU for $12.4m, thus bringing the company’s valuation to $247.4m.

The sources added that the volume of granted funds grew three times on an annual basis to reach EGP 3.65bn in the first half of this year.

They explained that the company started using the accounting standard IFRS 9 in accordance with the requirements of the Financial Regulatory Authority, to set aside provisions worth EGP 81.7m.

The sources added that the value of sold goods grew 2.5 times to reach EGP 1.5bn during the second quarter of 2022, bringing the total sales to about EGP 6.8bn.

Walid Hassouna, CEO of ValU, said that the company targets sales of EGP 6bn after it achieved about EGP 2bn in sales during 2021, in addition to its presence in one of the Gulf countries during the coming period.

He pointed out that the company is working hard to try to mitigate the effects of high interest rates, pointing out that it is trying to offer interest-free offers despite the impact on profit margins.