With the new fiscal year starting today, the market witnessed a lull in performance on the last trading sessions of June, with all brokerage firms trying to close their books before yearend. Another factor that weighed on the market is ambiguity in the future prospects of the European economy. The EGX30, Egypt's main index, closed at 6,120 points on Tuesday, 2.17 per cent lower than on Monday, marking the sixth consecutive session that it closes in the red. On the macroeconomic level, Minister of Tourism Zuhair Garana said Egypt's tourism industry is unlikely to be hurt this year by Europe's debt crisis. The impact may appear "starting next year", Garana said in an interview with Bloomberg. Garana also said that the government has a plan to boost the total number of tourists to 14 million annually by 2011. The minister estimated that Arab tourism represents approximately 18 per cent of Egypt's total tourism in terms of both numbers and income. TALAAT MUSTAFA GROUP (TMG): Egypt's largest listed real estate company said that last week's ruling to revoke its Madinaty project land purchase could slow residential sales, but the effect would be short term. This came after the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) had appealed the ruling, which said that NUCA broke the law when it gave 80,000 feddans directly to Talaat Mustafa rather than holding a tender. TMG's CEO, Jihad Sawaftah, told Reuters the ruling could temporarily increase cancellations of contracts already signed in mixed residential and commercial development, but he did not expect a major impact. A company statement released Monday noted that contract cancellations had remained within a normal range. SIXTH OF OCTOBER INVESTMENT COMPANY (SODIC): Sales of the high-end real estate developer until the end of June reached LE1.23 billion. SODIC also reached an agreement with Mobica, Egypt's manufacturer and retailer of office furniture, to develop a headquarters and showroom in Westown, a project SODIC is developing in west Cairo. SODIC sold the right to develop over 6,540 square metres of land to Mobica for LE50 million. AMER GROUP: The group, which owns and manages Portos resorts in Marina and Ain Sokhna and is about to launch an initial public offering in the local bourse, said it expects an increase in sales to Europeans. Many Europeans are interested in second homes in Egypt, despite the debt crisis that has sparked fears of a sluggish Eurozone recovery, Peter Riddoch -- chief executive of Amer Group's resort development arm, Porto World -- told Reuters. Prices in the first phase of the Red Sea resort of Porto South Beach, which sold out after its May launch, started at around LE4,500 per square metre. On another hand, the group is planning to start selling 600 homes before construction in its Syria project, Port Tartous, next month, and is in the early stages of projects in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. MARIDIVE FOR OIL SERVICES: The company's shareholders had a hard week with the marine and oil support services company falling to its lowest level in more than a year on concerns that an oil spill off the Red Sea coast would hurt the company's profits. Maridive lost 14.25 per cent in a week to settle at LE3.13 on Tuesday, the lowest close since May 2009. EFG-HERMES: The company sent a release to the stock exchange, confirming it had agreed to buy a 100 per cent stake in Jordanian brokerage firm Tadawol for Securities and Financial Services for 3.85 million Jordanian dinars. According to Reuters, the bank said it would assume management control of the business, which will be renamed EFG-Hermes Jordan. ADVANCED PHARMACEUTICAL PACKAGING: The newest entrant in the stock market saw its shares trading Sunday. It raised LE21.3 million in a private placement practice that led to its listing. The offering was 1.4 times oversubscribed. The company, established in 1995, has annual glass ampoule production capacity and glass vial production capacity of 340 million units and 73 million units respectively. While the receipts of the offering would be channelled to financing new projects, the company said it will be repaying LE25 million over four years, including LE20 million owed to the state-owned Bank of Alexandria and LE5 million to financial leasing companies. CONTACT CARS: The car purchase finance company is selling LE470 million in bonds aimed at securitising expected car payments. This is the company's sixth bond issue since its inception in 2000. According to the bond prospectus, the issue will have three tranches with different maturities: a 13-month LE178.6 million note with a yield of 9.375 per cent; a 37-month LE216.2 million note with a yield of 10.25 per cent; and a 60-month LE75.2 million note with a yield of 10.75 per cent. The subscription will begin 11 July and continue for 60 days or until covered. Some 90 per cent of the issue will be sold in a private placement and the other 10 per cent to the public through branches of Banque Misr, the underwriter of the issue. Compiled by Sherine Abdel-Razek
