Positive sentiment swept the market from the start of the week with observers expecting the Egyptian index to pass 8,000 points soon. The recovery was triggered by the EGX30 breaking the 7,500 points level. The strong performance of the market's blue chips came on the back of positive news, with Orascom Telecom ending its two and a half years dispute with France Telecom, as one example. The market's bond trading activity will be boosted soon with new regulations on the way. Ministry of Investment Mahmoud Mohieldin issued a new rule allowing corporations and other bodies to issue bonds in batches. Under the new rule, a company can sell bonds in tranches for up to a year after the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority approves their issue. This will give companies greater flexibility when seeking to raise funds. On the macroeconomic level, the picture also seems to be rosy. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said Egypt's economy might grow six per cent in the fiscal year that ends June 2011. GDP growth came at 4.6 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year and 5.1 per cent in the second quarter. RASCOM TELECOM HOLDING (OTH): The regional mobile operator agreed with France Telecom to end a two and a half year-old legal dispute about ownership of the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (Mobinil). The two companies will implement a new shareholder agreement without changing the company's ownership structure, they said in a joint statement. France Telecom was planning to buy out minority shareholders in Mobinil, Egypt's largest mobile phone operator by subscriber base, to implement an arbitration ruling to buy Orascom's stake in Mobinil. France Telecom had said it would pay LE245 a piece for about 49 million shares owned by minority investors, a price Orascom rejected as too low. On another front, the Bangladeshi unit of OTH will start offering mobile remittance services in one month to tap the large population working without bank accounts. Under the service, banks will offer mobile wallet accounts through Banglalink, the country's second largest mobile operator. Banglalink distribution outlets will be used as remittance disbursement cash points. The services will reduce transfer time to one day from 4-5 days now, Orascom said in press release. According to the press release, remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas are key sources of foreign exchange for the impoverished South Asian country of 150 million people. More than 90 per cent of the population does not have access to banking services while some 3.5 million migrant workers contribute around $10 billion annually to the economy, Orascom said. In an unexpected move, Algeria's central bank blocked the Algerian unit of OTH, Djezzy, from transferring profits out of the country. Last week Djezzy paid all its taxes dues to the Algerian authorities. NASR CITY HOUSING: The state owned developer received a 5.5 million square metre plot on the outskirts of Cairo after settling a dispute with the Egyptian army. The land was assigned to the company by decree as the army refused to hand over the plot until the company pays to move a shooting range on the property. The usage of the land, located on the Egypt-Suez Desert Road, had not yet been decided. The land is located close to Talaat Mustafa Group's Madinaty Project. The plot represents about 55 per cent of the total land bank of the company. On another front, the company's board of directors approved amending the start of the company's fiscal year to 1 January. EL-SEWEDY CABLES: the largest cable producer in the Middle East is bidding for four wind electricity projects in Turkey during 2010 through its wind electricity subsidiary, Manuel Torres. The company has also announced it is at the final stages of talks with the Ethiopian government for the establishment of a two million square metre industrial park in the country. The company's general assembly meeting announced a stock dividend at a ratio of three to 10. PALM HILLS DEVELOPMENTS (PHD): the real estate firm listed on both the Egyptian and London stock exchanges announced that the second round of its capital increase rights issue -- launched April 2010 -- was over-subscribed more than 500 times. The company's capital was raised by LE698,880 million to reach LE2,096 billion. The first phase was closed 99 per cent subscribed; the second phase included the unsubscribed one per cent. "The proceeds of the capital increase will be ?used to speed up construction activities as well as providing a cash cushion ?to take advantage of any land acquisition opportunities," said a company note. PHD signed a strategic partnership agreement with Burooj Properties, the real estate arm of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB). This agreement covers the sale of 425 units of PHD's Village Garden Katameya Project with a total value of LE315 million to Burooj Properties. Compiled by Sherine Abdel-Razek
