Limited gains followed by subdued profit taking is what the market has been witnessing for some time, however analysts believe this to be healthy considering its summer when transactions are usually weak. The market's main index, EGX 30, ended Tuesday transactions at 6398 points, about 38 per cent higher than its level at the beginning of the year. MARIDIVE AND OIL SERVICES: a leading Egyptian marine and oil support service company, has commissioned a new vessel at a cost of $7 million, bringing the number of new units it will receive by the end of 2011 to 11 marine units and its total marine units to 73, including both vessels and barges. The ship is to be built in China and will be received during the first quarter of 2010. The new vessel will be 80 per cent financed by a syndicated loan extended by the commercial International Bank and Credit Agricole Bank and the rest will be financed through equity. TALAAT MOUSTAFA GROUP: Egypt's largest property developer by market value posted a 29 per cent decline in its net profits for the second quarter to reach LE321 million, a decline that a company's press release attributed to the escalation of building costs. The company's revenues for the same period came to LE1.638 billion compared to LE1.675 billion in the corresponding six period of 2008. The firm's real estate and construction costs jumped 17.5 per cent to LE2.2 billion in the first half of 2009, versus LE1.8 billion in the first half of 2008. THE EGYPTIAN COMPANY FOR MOBILE SERVICES (MOBINIL): the local mobile operator launched new plan called "ahla kalam" whereby subscribers are charged LE0.15 per minute on net (calls between two Mobinil numbers) and LE 0.30 per off net per minute. While it is not clear whether this offer is temporary or permanently available, EFG- Hermes said it is the lowest on net tariff offered in the Egyptian market so far, and comes after Etisalat Misr's aggressive temporary offer "Ahlan Kol El-Nass" was launched in May for one month and re- launched last week, with a tariff per minute of LE0.19 to any mobile operator (on net and off net), and after Vodafone Egypt's (VFE) new prepaid plan offering LE0.10 per on net minute starting the second minute. On a different note, the company's commercial director, Yasser Radwan, was quoted by the local media as saying the number of USB modems that all three mobile operators sold in Egypt reached at least 100,000 units. He pointed out that Mobinil has cut its unit price from LE700 to LE140, "to address a wider base." Moreover, he noted that Mobinil's data transfer customers have grown fivefold during the first half of 2009. The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has released mobile subscriber numbers showing that by the end of June 2009 Mobinil's total subscriber base reached 22.76 million, growing by 7.5 per cent from the previos quarter and achieving a 47.1 per cent market share, down from 47.5 per cent in March 2009. SUEZ CANAL BANK (SCB): the bank's existing shareholders are subscribing in its capital increase through which its paid-in capital would reach LE2 billion. This is taking place through the issuing of 100 million new shares at LE10 per share. Current shareholders are permitted to subscribe to the issue (in the ratio of 1:1) between 27 August 2009 and 27 September 2009. The capital increase will be used to secure the necessary liquidity to fund growth. BISCO MISR: the now privately owned confectionary firm's net income declined to LE5.4 million in the second quarter of 2009 versus LE14.2 million last year. The decline came because income in second quarter of 2008 included the sale proceeds of investments worth LE11.6 million. Excluding this extraordinary item, net profits doubled from LE2.6 million to LE5.4 million. Compiled by Sherine Abdel-Razek
