Amid last week trading which witnessed the bloody clashes between Islamist Jihadists and Egyptian policemen in Sinai, Orascom Telecom Media & Technology Holding (OTMT.CA) has maintained to become on the top ten active firms listed in the Egyptian Exchange (EGX). OTMT's volume of trades hit 175.2 million securities worth EGP 101.2 million. Orascom Telecom Media & Technology Holding: On Tuesday, Alfa - the first Lebanese mobile operator managed by OTMT.CA announced that it has successfully completed the 1st Lab Test on the 4G-LTE technology on its network. During the test, unprecedented & record speeds of up to 100 Mbits/sec were achieved. In parallel with the success of this 1st Lab Test, Alfa will be launching soon a 3-month Pilot Phase on the 4G-LTE technology on 20 4G-LTE existing sites installed in Beirut. The Pilot Phase will include 300 participants, and it will span across a geographical area covering the administrative area of Beirut. The commercial launch of Alfa's 4G-LTE service will take place in 2013. On Wednesday, OTMT said it is considering the selling of its submarine network Med Cable Ltd (Med Cable) in Algeria amid more than a year of suspension. Karim Beshara, the CEO of OTMT, said the company is currently seeking to market Med Cable noting that there are a number of offers to purchase the cable are under study. Beshara further told Amwal Al Ghad that suspending operations in Med Cable was due to disputes between OTMT and Algerian government. The Algerian government had announced immediately after suspending the operations in Med Cable that OTMT is using the cable for leaking the customers' information. Palm Hills: Palm Hills Development (PHDC.CA) has come second as its volume of trades amounted to 64.1 million securities worth EPG 164.8 million. Amer Group: Amer Group Holding (AMER.CA) has shown to be the third as its volume of trades hit 28.7 million securities worth EGP 19.2 million. Orascom Telecom: Fourthly, Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) (ORTE.CA) has had volume of trades hit 22.2 million securities worth EGP 78.5 million. Citadel Capital: Fifthly, Citadel Capital (CCAP.CA) has come seventh having volume of trades reached 21.9 million securities worth EGP 83.1 million. On Monday, Citadel Capital announced the start of pilot operation at the Arab National Cement Company (ANCC)'s new plant located in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Minya, at a production capacity of 2 million tpa. The Arab National Cement Company (ANCC), a subsidiary of regional cement producer ASEC Cement, is located some 220 kilometers south of Cairo in the Minya governorate. In addition to creating 400 direct and 1,500 indirect jobs, the plant will provide cement for key infrastructure projects in Upper Egypt. ANCC is a project of ASEC Cement, a 33.44%-owned investment platform of Citadel Capital. On Wednesday, TAQA Power - a branch of Citadel Capital's full service energy distribution platform - TAQA Arabia, has announced the start of commercial operations for the first private sector independent power plant (IPP) to be tendered by the Egyptian petrochemicals sector. The 11 MW natural gas powered plant located in Dekheila Port, Alexandria will provide the Egyptian Polystyrene Production Co., E-Styrenics, a subsidiary of the Egyptian Petrochemical Holding Company, with all of its energy needs. Khaled Abu Bakr, CEO TAQA Arabia comments, “We are pleased to witness this expansion in TAQA Power's scope of operations. These types of projects offer new solutions that directly address some of Egypt's most pressing problems; such as the shortage of electricity. This landmark project, which will ensure an uninterrupted power supply to one of the petrochemicals sector's most important new factories, is an excellent example of how the private sector can make a valuable contribution to issues of national importance." TAQA Power (formerly Global Energy) was awarded a Build, Own, Operate (B.O.O.) contract to establish the plant in July 2011. The financial close and construction of the project have been successfully completed and the IPP will start commercial operations during the fourth quarter of 2012 under a 20-year off-take agreement with E-Styrenics. Upper Egypt General Contracting: Sixthly, Upper Egypt General Contracting (UEGC.CA) has had volume of trades hit 21.2 million securities worth EGP 28.2 million. Talaat Moustafa: Talaat Moustafa Group –TMG (TMGH.CA) has come seventh as it had volume of trades reached 19 million securities worth EGP 87.6 million. On Thursday, TMG has reported a 12.2 percent fall in nine-month net profit to EGP 433 million, on revenue down 27 percent to EGP 3.21 billion, according to the company's unaudited consolidated financial results. An Egyptian court will rule on Jan. 16 in a long-running dispute over TMG's flagship real estate project, a case being closely watched as an indicator of the investment environment. That case has cast a shadow over the company's activities. AIND: Arab Investment and Development (formerly AIC Contracting) (AIND.CA) has ranked eighth as its volume of trades amounted to 18.7 million securities worth EGP 9.6 million. Polvara: Ninthly, Arab Polvara Spinning & Weaving (APSW.CA) has had a volume of trades reached 13.7 million securities worth EGP 51.6 million. On Sunday, Arab Polvara Spinning & Weaving reported financial statements for the first nine months of FY12, which reflected EGP 54.109 million losses, compared with EGP 53.475 million in prior-year period. Revenue for the same period dropped to EGP 151.455 million from EGP 157.794 million. Also on Sunday, Arab Polvara Spinning & Weaving announced that workers staged a sit-in, and the management held negotiations to fulfill their demand, as per the company's conditions. On Monday, Salah Mohammed Al Moursi - Acting Managing Director at Polvara Co. - revealed that it is difficult for the board to fulfill demands of workers who are on strike. Workers demand a 1-month bonus. Pointing out that the plant will be remain completely shut down till end of this week, Al Moursi indicated that fulfilling the workers' demand means paying nearly EGP 6 million to 2000 workers. The top official added that the company will not respond to the demand unless it receives a relevant decision from the government or Holding Company for Spinning and Weaving. Arab Cotton Ginning: At the bottom of the list, Arab Cotton Ginning (ACGC) has come tenth recording a volume of trades reached 11.9 million securities worth EGP 47.2 million.
