UN conference cites Egypt's 'NWFE' programme as model for development finance    Al-Sisi calls for unified efforts to hold elections in Libya, urges withdrawal of foreign forces    EGP edges down in Sunday morning currency trading    Ukraine, Egypt explore preferential trade deal: Zelenskyy    Mastercard Unveils AI-Powered Card Fraud Prevention Service in EEMEA Region, Starting from Egypt    Egypt, Russia's Rosatom review grid readiness for El-Dabaa nuclear plant    Global tour for Korean 'K-Comics' launches in Cairo with 'Hellbound' exhibition    China's factory output expands in June '25    New accords on trade, security strengthen Egypt-Oman Relations    Egypt launches public-private partnership to curb c-sections, improve maternal, child health    Gaza under Israeli siege as death toll mounts, famine looms    Philip Morris Misr announces new price list effective 1 July    Egypt Post discusses enhanced cooperation with Ivorian counterpart    Egypt's Environment Minister calls for stronger action on desertification, climate resilience in Africa    Egypt teams up with private sector to boost university rankings    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Egypt condemns deadly terrorist attack in Niger        Egypt's EHA, Schneider Electric sign MoU on sustainable infrastructure    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Grand Egyptian Museum opening delayed to Q4    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's EDA joins high-level Africa-Europe medicines regulatory talks    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Egypt discovers three New Kingdom tombs in Luxor's Dra' Abu El-Naga    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Egypt's FM inspects Julius Nyerere Dam project in Tanzania    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Still in charge
Published in Al-Ahram Weekly on 30 - 06 - 2005

A week after the expiry of the subscription period in both its IPO and private placement, SIDPEC continued to direct market movement. Sherine Abdel-Razek reports
"The extra funds investors initially saved for Sidi Krir's IPO, which turned out to be less attractive than anticipated, was used up at the beginning of the week, forcing investors to profit take in the middle of the week." This is how the HC securities report described the market during last week's transactions.
The way things went with the SIDPEC offering was disappointing as stipulating minimum lots of 1,000 shares for subscribing in the IPO limited the number of investors capable of buying the shares. Moreover, 94 per cent of the shares sold through the private placement were snatched by a Saudi investment house, Naeem.
Disappointed investors, however, dove back into the market, cashing in on the range of blue chips, driving up prices through most of the days of the week, reaching its peak by the end of the trading week on 23 June which witnessed SIDPEC debut trading on the Stock Exchange Market at an opening price of LE77.45 per share.
A clear indicator of the week's activity was the overall higher than usual Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange (CASE) turnover of LE2.74 billion.
Sunday and Monday transactions was mixed and the market ended in negative terrain.
SIDPEC's first day of transactions witnessed frenzy buying, pushing the share up and hitting the ceiling of the permited five per cent upward movements. This very limited movement was believed to be why bourse authorities decided to exclude SIDPEC from the five per cent price limits starting Monday.
Only 36 of the listed companies currently enjoy movement of their shares up and down within a 20 per cent limit. Transactions on the rest will be suspended if it exceeds a five per cent north or south opening price.
Moving to other traded stocks, the week's most active was Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) with a turnover of LE295.59 million.
No surprise that the market gauging Orascom Telecom (OT) had the second largest turnover, worth LE258.44 million. Weather Investments, the new 50 per cent owner of OT, succeeded in securing a loan for acquiring Italy's Wind.
Deutsche Bank, ABN AMRO and Sao Paolo IMI will partly finance the 12.1 billion euro deal by extending Weather Investments a 9.3 billion euro loan.
A part of the loan will be used to refinance Wind's outstanding debt while the remaining 1.75 billion euros will be used to supplement the financing of the acquisition. Moreover, OT seems to be planning to enter the fixed lines business as well. It is competing with Spain's Telefonica and Moroccan local firm Maroc Connect to build a fixed-line network in Morocco.
The GSM double headers Vodafone and ECMS performed exceptionally well. Vodafone announced its upcoming dividend distribution which surged its stock price by 11.49 per cent to end the week at LE89.01. MobiNil leapt 9.65 per cent to close at LE191.12. MobiNil signed a cooperation pact with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an affiliate of the World Bank, to develop and train personnel of the company's local small- and medium-scale customer enterprises.
Al-Ezz Steel Rebars was among the best performing stocks, shooting up 21.58 per cent to end at LE29.02. This came in the wake of the very positive first-quarter results posted by the iron and steel producer ANSDK which is 21 per cent owned by Al-Ezz Steel Rebars. Also, the recent drop in international steel prices has affected Al-Ezz's cost of raw materials.
Banking sector sentiments were high amid a wave of acquisition activity. The four bidding proposals on the acquisition of Banque Misr's stake in MIBank were due at the end of last week.
Also, Egyptian Commercial Bank (ECB) secured a deal with the Greek Bank of Piraeus which acquired 69 per cent stake in ECB at LE133.42 million. The Greek bank had put forth an acquisition offer earlier in May setting as a condition the inclusion of at least 70 per cent of ECB's issued capital before going ahead with the deal. The deal was executed at a LE21 per share versus its LE12.84 trading price at week's start.
On the privatisation front, the Housing and Construction Holding Company received no offers to acquire the public stake in Nasr City Housing, estimated at 32.98 per cent. The deadline set by the Holding Company to present offers was Monday.
News from the broader macro-economic level was encouraging. According to Prime Securities weekly market review, the World Bank's board discussed a proposed country assistance strategy for Egypt covering the next four years (2006- 2009) with expected aid in the range of $2-2.8 billion. The aid shall be directed towards supporting enhancements in various sector reforms including infrastructure, education, poverty alleviation and the financial sector. "Generally speaking, the proposed strategy shall support the Egyptian government's goal to fight poverty by focussing efforts on areas where the World Bank's contribution will achieve results, such as improving the investment climate and enhancing economic, social and financial reforms," said the report.


Clic here to read the story from its source.