Embattled Swvl rehires employees after first-ever profit

STARTUP VENTURE CAPITALJanuary 6, 2024 at 6:34 PM UTC

Youssef Salem, the Chief Financial Officer of Swvl for smart transport, announced that the company achieved its profitability targets in 2023. Swvl is now looking to enhance its profits further through cautious expansions in 2024.

Salem informed Daily News Egypt that the company has initiated the rehiring of some previously laid-off employees. Additionally, Swvl is implementing a strategic plan for measured expansion in key markets, with a specific focus on the Saudi market.

In 2022, Swvl reduced its workforce by about one-third to achieve profitability and cut costs. This workforce reduction aimed to make the company profitable in 2023 instead of the initially projected 2024. Swvl implemented various operational and administrative measures, leveraging technology to streamline workflows and enhance overall company performance, expediting the journey to profitability.

Key Takeaways

Swvl's debut on the NASDAQ in March 2022, with shares priced at $10, now seems like a distant past. Since February 2023, the company's shares have been lingering around $1, prompting multiple threats of delisting from the NASDAQ. To address the decline, Swvl attempted various measures, including a reverse stock split in January 2022, where each shareholder received 25 shares for each share held. While this move provided temporary relief, causing a spike in the share price to $4, the initial optimism waned as the share price quickly resumed its decline. Under pressure to halt the slump, the company also undertook significant measures such as laying off over 400 staff and dissolving subsidiaries in various countries, including Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Germany, and Pakistan, either through closures or the sale of its stake in those subsidiaries.

Swvl

Nasdaq

Youssef Salem

Egypt