Summer lull is pushing the market to a relaxed performance. Sherine Abdel-Razek reports Following several hyperactive weeks, the market transactions are slowing down in what observers see as the seasonal summer lull. Last week's transactions and the early transactions of this week became subdued, most large cap companies trading within a consolidation zone after previous rallies. The CASE collected a total week's turnover worth LE1.78 billion. The most active stock of the week was Sidi Kreir (SIDPEC) with a total turnover of LE370.61 million. The company finished at LE102.60 up from last week's LE97.59. The banking sector also saw some important developments. The Central Bank of Egypt has declined requests to extend the 15 July deadline for banks to increase their paid in capital to a minimum of LE 500 million. 11 banks are currently preparing for mergers while three branches of foreign banks are facing liquidation. As for the traded banks, Misr International Bank MIBank was up by 2.16 per cent finishing the week at LE48.31. The surge was based on news that the competition for buying the 25.2 per cent public stake has tightened with the withdrawal of both Société Générale Bank and BNP Paribas from the bidding process. This leaves only the Bahraini National Bank and Barclay's Egypt. On the other hand, the Greek Piraeus Bank announced it has raised its newly acquired stake in the Egyptian Commercial Bank (ECB) to 79.9 per cent from 69.3 per cent. Meanwhile, ECB released its first quarter results for March, in which its net income was at the same level of last year. The bank cornered LE46.4 million in provisions, versus LE3.5 million clocked up in this respect in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The Sawiris family's group of companies fared well amid positive news. According to engineer Naguib Sawiris, chairman and founder of Orascom Telecom OT, it is expected that the merger between OT and the Italian telecom company Wind will take place within the next 18 months. A consortium led by Sawiris, known as Weather Investments, has recently acquired a majority stake in Wind. Weather already own 51 per cent of OT. In another development, Orascom Hotel & Development acquired the previously public owned Amoun Hotel in a deal worth LE15 million. According to Prime Securities Market Watch report, OHD is liable to renovate, and expand the hotel through building an additional 100 rooms with an expected investment cost of LE55 million. The cement sector also witnessed activity as positive sentiment abounded due to the Libyan prime minister's announcement last week that Libya will import four million tonnes of cement annually from Egypt to cover its supply deficit. With the cabinet celebrating its first anniversary, it is boasting positive macro economic indicators that are evident every day. The central bank of Egypt said that the country's net foreign reserves rose to $19.50 billion by the end of June, its highest level in almost five years. The main foreign currency earners, the Suez Canal and tourism, have been recording solid revenues. The Suez Canal revenues during the first five months of 2005 increased by 15 per cent to $1.401 billion. Tourists arriving in Egypt have reached another record of 4.2 million tourists during the first half of 2005 compared to 3.7 million last year. On the privatisation front, the listed state-run company Delta for Sugar dropped 1.98 per cent on Sunday to close at EGP47.04. The decline stemmed from a delay in the privatisation of the company which cannot take place until it completes expansions of its production lines. On the other hand, Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieddin announced that the yield from the 28 companies privatised since July 2004 has reached LE5.7 billion.
