A handful of positive figures and news on the macroeconomic level, together with the US Federal Reserve move to lower interest rates, failed to support the market which was hit by subdued activity by foreigners. Meanwhile, locals -- feeling the crunch of escalating inflation -- opted to hold back their investments. The CASE30 index lost 3.8 per cent through the week ending 19 March, to close at 10,905 points. Overall transactions in the four-day trading week -- Thursday was a holiday celebrating Prophet Mohamed's birthday -- came at LE10.5 billion, compared to LE14.3 billion the previous week. On a positive note, Egypt became the first Arab and North African country to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)'s Development Centre. The centre is a forum working on strengthening international dialogue about economic policies and enhancing cooperation between policymakers, civil society, private sector, international research centres and financial institutions in member countries. Meanwhile, the main features of the 2008/2009 budget showed that government revenues are expected to increase by 24 per cent, to reach LE232.4 billion. This is primarily due to a 26 per cent increase in tax revenues. At the same time, government expenditures are predicted to rise by 28 per cent to reach LE312.6 billion. This rise will include LE13 billion allocated for increases in the wages of civil servants; the budget for wages will now reach LE73 billion. HOUSING & DEVELOPMENT BANK (HDB) will be the first to issue sukuk, Islamic bonds, on the Egyptian market. According to the outcome of the bank's general assembly meeting, HDB will issue LE400 million worth of debt products to securitise client debts. The amount will include LE200 million in sukuk and LE200 million in traditional bonds. HDB plans to raise funds to finance expansion plans in the housing market after it concluded agreements to finance home buyers in the National Plan for Housing worth LE2 billion. Shareholders attending the meeting also approved distributing LE1.5 per share for fiscal year 2007. HDB is in the process of increasing its capital by LE600 million, with 25 per cent of the increase distributed among current shareholders and employees, while the rest is to take place through an IPO. The Capital Market Authority has yet to approve the public offering. ORIENTAL WEAVERS (OW), the international rug manufacturer, has put on hold its share buyback scheme until its next shareholders' meeting on 29 March. Last August, OW revealed a plan to buy back 1.5 million of its shares. Until 28 February, it had bought 941,291 shares (63 per cent) of the targeted volume. It has not bought back anymore since then because of various recent announcements by the company, including its annual results. Companies cannot buy any of its treasury stocks at a time of important developments. OLYMPIC GROUP (OG) posted a 14.1 per cent increase in its net profits during 2007, to reach LE242.9 million, according to the company's financial results. The group's sales, excluding those from the real estate subsidiary Namaa, mounted to LE2.3 billion. This marks a 24.3 per cent increase on the back of a surge in sales of electric appliances and changes in OG's sales mix towards higher-priced models. In another development, OG established a subsidiary called "One Channel Logistic" specialised in transportation services in the North Africa region. The capital of the new company is valued at LE400 million. SIXTH OF OCTOBER DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT (SODIC)'s 2007 profits came at LE370.4 million, compared to LE226.7 million in 2006. In addition, sales grew by 52.9 per cent to reach LE554.6 million. EFG-Hermes, which predicted SODIC's profits to be around LE259.6 million and sales of LE502 million, attributed the higher-than-expected results mainly to the sale of the company's land at Dahshour in the fourth quarter of 2007 instead of 2008. Receipts of the sale accounted for 12.4 per cent of 2007 revenues. ODIC's main activity is to convert its land bank into highly profitable and cash generating projects. It currently owns around four million square metres of land located in prime locations east and west of Cairo. Most of the land parcels are divided into different projects of various sizes which are still in a developing stage. AHLI UNITED BANK-EGYPT (AUB) posted net profits of LE146.8 million during fiscal year 2007, compared to only LE200,000 in 2006. The whopping increase came on the back of a 38 per cent hike in AUB's net interest income which reached LE179.8 million. Total assets of the bank, previously known as Delta International Bank, grew from LE4 billion in 2006 to LE5.8 billion by 31 December 2007. Loans to customers increased by 134 per cent to reach LE2.5 billion. ORASCOM CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES (OCI) shareholders approved a special cash dividend of LE305 per share, translated to a dividend yield of 45.7 per cent based on Thursday's closing price. Shareholders of the regional construction group also approved OCI's takeover of Abraaj Capital's fertiliser business that was announced last month. To pay for the equity portion of the Abraaj transaction, OCI will issue 12.77 million new shares which will increase its capital by 6.3 per cent to become LE1.074 billion. Compiled by Sherine Abdel-Razek
