The market had a short trading week due to a series of national holidays during the week ending 1 May. Investors made use of the days off and held back their investments, with the CASE30 registering a minimal increase to settle at 11,786 points -- compared to 11,740 the week before. Analysts expect the market to witness great activity on the back of increased interest in blue chips. On the macroeconomic front, Minister of Tourism Zoheir Garana asserted that Egypt's tourism revenues are expected to surpass $10 billion in the fiscal year 2007/2008. Garana also revealed a plan to increase the number of hotel rooms to 240,000 by the end of this year, rather than by 2011 as previously planned. The government's target number of tourist arrivals by 2011 is 14 million. In a move aiming at integrating non-banking financial services, the government is planning to merge three regulatory bodies, namely the Capital Market Authority (CMA), the Egyptian Insurance Supervisory Authority (EISA) and the Mortgage Finance Authority (MFA). A new law which is currently being drafted will redefine the role of each of the three bodies and the new merged entity. The latter will coordinate its activities with the Central Bank of Egypt's (CBE) supervisory division. ORASCOM HOTELS AND DEVELOPMENT (OHD) revealed that its newly formed parent company Orascom Development Holding AG is expected to collect at least $189 million from the sale of 1.25 million new shares in Switzerland this month. OHD CEO Samih Sawiris said proceeds will be used to further develop land reserves and finance new projects. ORASCOM CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES (OCI) posted a 42.5 per cent increase in its net profits during 2007, to reach $4662 million. The construction group's consolidated revenues -- excluding the divested cement operations to the French Lafarge -- grew by 9.2 per cent to reach nearly $2.4 billion. OCI's capital gains came at $11 billion from the sale of its cement division to Lafarge in December 2007. In another development, OCI signed an agreement with nine regional and international banks to acquire a $900 million loan, with the Arab Bank Group being the lead arranger. OCI will use the loan to finance part of its recent acquisition of the Egyptian Fertiliser Company. TALAAT MUSTAFA GROUP (TMG), the construction giant, has formed a 50-50 joint venture with the US-based construction consulting firm Hill International Inc. The new company will mainly manage TMG's large scale development projects, such as the Mega Mall and the Four Seasons Hotel at Madinaty, the Four Seasons Hotel in Luxor and the expansion of the existing Four Seasons Resort in Sharm El-Sheikh. The new venture will also supervise TMG's project in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to build 5,000 residential units and will encompass three million square metres. ARAFA HOLDING, the ready-made clothing company, increased its stake in its retail arm in the UK, BMB, to 60 per cent from 40.1 per cent at a cost of 3.7 million sterling pounds. BMB currently has a 20 per cent share of the UK men's suit market and generates annual revenues of 94.7 million sterling pounds. Commenting on the move, EFG-Hermes said that the increased stake in BMB will only have a minor impact on Arafa's valuation, at least initially. If the increased ownership were to allow Arafa to benefit from further synergies between BMB and the apparel and textile segments, for example through an increase in the number of suits produced for BMB, it could have a more positive impact on Arafa's valuation. AL-EZZ STEEL REBARS said it will issue LE1.1 billion non-convertible seven-year bonds, worth LE1.1 billion, to repay its bank debts. The issue will include 11 million bonds in one tranche, with a nominal value of LE100 each and a coupon of 11.5 per cent paid twice a year. Subscribers in this tranche have at least to buy 10 bonds in the public subscription that will start in two weeks. The proceeds will be used to restructure the company's long-term bank debt and repay a portion of its short-term bank debt. PALM HILLS DEVELOPMENTS' private placement ended this week and was covered 17 times at LE21.75 per share. The price of shares issued in the IPO will accordingly be LE20.6 per share. The result of the public subscription was still unknown until the newspaper went to press. Trading on the company's shares on the London and Egyptian stock exchanges begins today, 8 May. Compiled by Sherine Abdel-Razek
