Egypt’s Ezz El-Dekheila shrugged off political unrest and a troubled economy to chart record-breaking profits in 2011, an official from the steelmaking giant said on Sunday.

The company, a unit of Ezz Steel, saw its net profits climb an annual 4 per cent to LE697 million in 2011. Revenues soared 11 per cent to LE14 billion over the same period.

Cairo-based investment bank Beltone Financial said the steelmaker had seen “a remarkable year,” despite a plunge in profits during the fourth quarter.

Ezz El-Dekheila’s profits fell by a mighty 53 per cent quarter-on-quarter to LE146 million as revenues slipped 3 per cent to LE3.3 billion over the same period – drops partly attributed to a downturn in construction during the festival of Eid Al-Adha in November.

“The company saw its highest profits in history despite all the troubles in 2011,” Samir Nomani, sales director at Ezz Steel told Ahram Online.

On Sunday, Ezz El-Dekheila’s parent company Ezz Steel announced will maintain its April selling price for steel rebar at LE4,600 per tonne, citing stable global costs for raw materials.

Global prices for billet in March stood at US$640 per tonne while scrap prices slightly rose from $400 to $415 per tonne during the same period, according to a monthly report from Egypt's Metallurgical Industries Chamber.

In May 2011, Ahmed Ezz, former secretary for organisational affairs of the now dismantled National Democratic Party (NDP) was removed from his position as chairman of Ezz El-Dekheila.

In September, Ezz was sentenced to 10 years in prison on graft ‎charges related to the illegal sale of steel licences.‎