The market moved within a very tight range up and down last week amid the absence of strong news on both the macro and microeconomic levels. However, compared to its level at the beginning of 2010, the market showed a 5.25 per cent gain until Tuesday when it ended the trading session at 6,534 points. As for news released through the week, the government said that the local growth rate through the fourth quarter of 2009 came at 4.5 per cent from 4.9 per cent on the previous three months. While the sectoral breakdown of the registered rates was not revealed, Osman Mohamed Osman, minister of economic development, expected the annual growth rate for the current fiscal year to increase to five per cent. Egypt's annual urban inflation was unchanged in December compared to November to settle at 13.2 per cent. Meanwhile, the monthly rate declined for the second month in a row, retreating by 1.3 per cent due to the decrease in vegetable and fruit prices. In another development that might support the profits of some traded companies, the head of the Industrial Development Authority said that the government might postpone a plan to cut energy subsidies for factories and keep energy prices at current levels throughout 2010. Other figures announced through the week were revenues from Egypt's Suez Canal, which fell 0.5 per cent to $390 million in December, which marks its lowest year-on-year fall since November 2008 when the slowdown in global trade began to hit shipping traffic. EGYPTIAN COMPANY FOR MOBILE SERVICES (MOBINIL): The Administrative Court yesterday ruled in favour of Orascom Telecom (OT) in its appeal to block an offer by France Telecom (FT) to buy all Mobinil's outstanding shares. The company has been benefiting from the high price that France Telecom offered for buying the minority stake. The price of the fourth offer came at LE245 per share compared to its market value of around LE200 on the day the offer was announced. Since then, the share surged by 21 per cent. CI capital advised holders of the minority stake in the company to sell it and buy in Telecom Egypt. "Considering all possible scenarios, we believe the tender offer price is probably the highest minority shareholders could actually get from either FT or OT, given the liquidity issues the latter is facing," noted a CI Capital report released Monday. On another front, Mobinil said through the week it is freezing plans to bid for a triple play compound licence due to the dispute between Orascom Telecom and France Telecom. On the other hand, the company denied press reports that it failed to pay the January instalment for its third generation (3G) licence and may face penalties. ORASCOM HOTELS AND DEVELOPMENT (OHD): The majority owned subsidiary of the Switzerland-based Orascom Development Holding raised 160 million Swiss francs in a syndicated loan to restructure short-term debt and to finance work on existing hotels. The company does not depend on loans as a source of finance; it depends mainly on real estate pre-sales to finance its own development, which means that it has room for increased leverage. The lead arrangers of the seven-year loan are the National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr. OHD has tourism projects in eight countries, including Egypt, Morocco, Switzerland and Oman. MARIDIVE: The oil services company announced that it had received the largest and most advanced barge in the Middle East and North Africa region and one of the largest in the world. The new barge is part of Maridive's expansion plan, the company having begun in 2004 to upgrade its fleet. The barge is equipped with advanced pipe-laying, pipe- tensioning and pipe-handling equipment, a crane capable of lifting weights up to 300 tonnes, and can accommodate up to 250 personnel. Maridive's current fleet stands at 63 units, with 10 additional units expected by 2011. GHABOUR GROUP: Egypt's largest car manufacturer and distributor said that the prospectus of its pending LE1 billion bond issue would be published within the next two weeks. LE600 million out of this sum will be used to finance the expansion of the company's after-sale service network, while the balance will be directed towards funding acquisitions over the coming period. Compiled by Sherine Abdel-Razek
