Local institutional investors supported the market by entering as heavy buyers during the week ending 15 November. This balanced the selling spree as foreign institutional investors and local retailers rushed to liquidate their holdings in a profit making process. The appealing IPO and private placement offerings of Talaat Mustafa Group (TMG) was another trigger for the selling wave, as investors sold shares in different companies to buy in TMG's equity. The release of positive financial results for a number of the market's blue chips, together with some improved economic indicators, cushioned the market. The CASE30 index ended the week 2.5 per cent higher at 9,414 points; overall transactions came at LE5.1 billion. Tax revenues jumped by 9.7 per cent during the first quarter of fiscal year 2007/2008, to reach LE17.8 billion compared to LE16.2 billion in the same quarter of 2006/2007. This has been attributed to an increase in revenues of sales taxes, tariff proceeds and revenues from taxing wages and salaries. Moreover, revenues from the Suez Canal rose by 20 per cent during the first 10 months of 2007 to reach $3.8 billion. NAEEM HOLDING COMPANY, the financial investment firm, is currently studying the possibility of transferring a portion of its equity to Global Depository Receipts (GDRs), making it the 11th Egyptian company to do so. Naeem Holding, established in May 2006, posted $23.8 million in profits during the first nine months of 2007 -- its first year of operation. Its subsidiaries operate across four lines of business, namely brokerage, asset management, private equity and corporate finance. The management team holds a 45.1 per cent stake in the company and free float stands at 32.5 per cent. TALAAT MUSTAFA GROUP (TMG)'s LE3.83 billion private placement was 17 times oversubscribed as international and local funds as well as high net worth individual investors put buying orders worth LE65 billion. The final price of the offering came at LE11.6 per share, which means that the company's IPO comprising of 65 million shares will take place at LE11 per share. The group aims at using the proceeds of the two offerings to finance regional expansion. TMG is a holding company with four real estate and tourist investment subsidiaries, and has a paid-in capital of LE18.2 billion. ORASCOM HOTELS AND DEVELOPMENT (OHD)'s Chairman Samih Sawiris said he expected his company would post an annual profit growth of more than 50 per cent per year until 2010, as it sells more land in Egypt and the Middle East. As for 2008, Sawiris believes that OHD will make more than 20 per cent of its revenues from outside Egypt and that this percentage must increase up to 50 per cent by 2012 as a means to diversify risk. OHD posted a 55 per cent leap in its consolidated profits, including its UAE operations, for the third quarter of 2007, reaching LE191 million. According to an EFG commentary, this is the first time OHD has included revenue from operations outside Egypt in its consolidated results. The revenue comprises LE102 million generated from real estate sales in the company's The Cove project in the UAE. The project alone contributed in the quarter's bottom line figure by 30 per cent. ORASCOM TELECOM HOLDING (OTH) sold about 95 million shares in the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd (HTIL), cutting its stake in the company to 14.4 per cent from 16.3 per cent. The deal, executed at $1.4 per share, is the second through which OTH divested a stake in Hutchison. Last month, OTH sold a three per stake in Hutchison Telecom worth around $193 million. HTIL operates in seven countries after it was launched in Vietnam and Indonesia in the first quarter of 2007, and its subscriber base grew by 33 per cent in the third quarter of 2007 to 9.1 million. Subscribers in both markets represent 20 per cent of HTIL's subscribers' base. On another note, OTH Chairman Naguib Sawiris was quoted by Bloomberg News agency as saying that plans to sell a stake in Weather Investments might be shelved. Weather Investments is a holding company that owns 50 per cent plus one share in OTH, Italy's operator Wind Telecomunicazioni and 100 per cent of Greece's Wind Hellas Telecommunications. Sawiris had previously expressed interest in selling as much as 20 per cent of Weather Investment to private equity firms. THE ARAB AFRICAN INTERNATIONAL BANK (AAIB) was chosen by the government as advisor to an auction to sell four steel plants licence; the auction will be launched by the end of December. The commercial AAIB played the same role in a recent auction to sell cement factories. Meanwhile, the Commercial International Bank (CIB), a planned partner with AAIB in a merger that was announced three months ago, said it will not rush into the deal. CIB Chairman Hisham Ezz El-Arab announced during a banking conference last week that they will not go through with the transaction before seeing reasonable terms that will add value to existing shareholders. Compiled by Sherine Abdel-Razek
