Egyptian tycoon Safwan Thabet's Juhayna builds citrus line with $36 million loan

Juhayna Food Industries, the Egyptian dairy and juice maker founded and controlled by tycoon Safwan Thabet, is building a new citrus production line with a six-year loan of about $36 million from Commercial International Bank-Egypt, as the company pushes deeper into juice concentrate and exports.

The medium-term facility is split into two parts: $31.6 million and EGP255 million ($4.6 million). Juhayna disclosed the agreement in a filing to the Egyptian Exchange, where its shares trade under the ticker JUFO, and said the money will pay for the new citrus line.

The company said the line will strengthen its concentrate business, raise operating capacity and productivity, and help it grow exports and become self-sufficient in foreign currency.

Dollars from oranges

Egypt is the world's largest exporter of fresh oranges, and citrus concentrate gives Juhayna a product it can sell abroad for dollars while also feeding its own juice brands at home. Juhayna buys much of its packaging, equipment and some raw materials with hard currency, and it has watched the Egyptian pound lose more than two-thirds of its value against the dollar since early 2022.

Juhayna already earns about 18% of its sales from juice and nectar, with dairy making up roughly three-quarters. Its brands include Juhayna Milk, Bekhero, Halibo, Rayeb, Juhayna Juice and Pure. The company runs four factories, a fully owned 6,500-feddan dairy farm and 39 distribution centers that reach more than 243,000 shops in Egypt, and it exports to more than 34 markets.

Profit back on the rise

The citrus project comes as earnings recover after a weaker 2025. Juhayna posted net profit attributable to shareholders of EGP1.38 billion ($25 million) in the first half of 2026, up 23% from a year earlier. First-quarter profit had more than doubled to about EGP668.6 million ($12.1 million) as revenue climbed about 26% to EGP8.6 billion ($155 million).

In 2025, net profit fell about 20% to EGP1.91 billion ($34.5 million) from EGP2.74 billion in 2024, even as net sales rose 23% to EGP29.98 billion ($541.8 million).

The Thabet family's grip

Safwan Thabet started Juhayna in 1983 after returning to Egypt from Saudi Arabia and built it into the country's largest dairy and juice producer. He controls 50.1% of the company through Pharon Investments Ltd. His son, Seif Thabet, is deputy chairman and chief executive officer.

Both men were detained by Egyptian authorities, Safwan in December 2020 and Seif in February 2021, on accusations of financing the Muslim Brotherhood, which the family denied. They were released in January 2023, and Seif Thabet was reappointed chief executive the following month.

The family is also in a dispute with Qatar's Baladna, Juhayna's second-largest shareholder with more than 15%, over access and governance at the company.

Figures were converted at EGP55.34 to the dollar.