The start of Amer Group shares trading failed to revive the market with EGX30 ending last week in the red after it dropped 2.2 per cent. As for the macro economy, indicators were mixed. The balance of payments hit $14.7 million during the period between July and September of the 2010/2011 fiscal year, against $2.1 billion in the same period last year, according to a report issued by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). Imports grew 9.3 per cent to $12.73 billion while exports climbed 13 per cent to $6.1 billion. Foreign direct investment (FDI) during the quarter fell to $1.60 billion from $1.73 billion. Meanwhile, revenue from tourism, the Suez Canal, exports and remittances from Egyptians living overseas revived from the previous year during which the economy was plodding through the global economic crisis that began in 2008. Revenue from tourism climbed 13 per cent year-on-year to $3.7 billion and Suez Canal income also rose by the same proportion to $1.3 billion. However, the current account deficit widened to $802.2 million in the July- September quarter from $493.4 million in the same quarter a year earlier. ORASCOM DEVELOPMENT HOLDING (OTH): The group is in negotiations with the European Investment Bank and a French fund to obtain 30 to 40 million euros to finance its expansions in Switzerland, Oman, Morocco and Romania. This amount is in addition to the 23 million euro loan the firm was given earlier to finance its Club Med Taba project over 10 years. The company's CEO Samih Sawiris previously said the company will self-finance 54 per cent of the cost of Club Med, amounting to 26 million euros. The company is to freeze its plan to issue bonds and will resort to bank credit instead to cover the balance of the cost. An OTH statement asserted that it is not a part of a deal to acquire a majority stake in the Serbian mobile company Telekom Srbija. OTH said that its parent company Weather Investments has directly submitted a buying offer for the Serbian operator. Telekom Srbija is 80 per cent owned by the state and 20 per cent by Greece's Hellenic Telecommunications Organisations. The Serbian entity is valued at 2.43 billion euros and the companies interested in it include America Movil, Deutsche Telekom, Telekom Austria and France Telecom. Meanwhile, the supervisory board of Russian telecoms group VimpelCom hopes to review the $6.6 billion acquisition of Weather Investments before the end of 2010. The company is expected to mandate banks to arrange a $4 billion loan to part finance its $6.6 billion takeover bid for OTH and Italy's Wind. ORASCOM CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES (OCI): Qatar's wining the right to host the World Cup for year 2022 gave OCI shares a good push, with shares being snatched amid speculations that the Cairo-based company may be securing contracts in the Gulf country. Besix Group, a 50 per cent-owned subsidiary of OCI, is part of a joint venture that won a $750 million contract to build the third phase of the passenger terminal at the New Doha International Airport. MARIDIVE AND OIL SERVICES: The company aims at doubling the value of its operations to reach $750 million by the end of 2011. Maridive, the largest oil services company in the Middle East, has executed $340 million worth of contracts so far in 2010. The company started in July 2010 the execution of its $380 million pipeline project in Saudi Arabia. EGYPTIAN COMPANY FOR MOBILE SERVICES (MOBINIL): The National Bank of Egypt and Commercial International Bank signed an initial contract with Egyptian Mobinil to arrange and manage a LE1 billion medium-term loan for the mobile communications company. The loan, with a duration of four to six years, will be used to finance the company's expansions in 3G and other networks. On a different note, Zawya news service quoted a senior company official as saying it aims at raising its subscriber base to 30 million before the end of 2010. Mobinil has the largest subscriber base in Egypt, with total subscribers at the end of June standing at 28.40 million. EZZ STEEL: Egypt's largest steel producer posted its net profit for the third quarter of 2010, reversing a loss in the same quarter a year ago and forecast that growing steel demand would push prices higher in 2011. The net profit came to LE1.65 million compared with a loss of LE67 million in the same quarter a year earlier. "An improvement in prices in the fourth quarter, combined with a reduction in volatility, are both positive signals for our 2011 outlook," Paul Chekaiban, Ezz Steel's managing director, said in a statement. The statement also noted that the demand for steel products in the Egyptian market continues to remain very high thanks to construction growth and the restart of infrastructure projects. Net sales for the quarter rose 36.3 per cent year-on-year to LE4.1 billion. Compiled by Sherine Abdel-Razeq
