During Wednesday closing session, the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) has extended posting gains to eventually hit EGP 2.12 billion as the capital market has amounted to EGP 393.285 billion. EGX indices closed in green. The main index, EGX30 rose by 0.79% to close at 5656.15 p. EGX20 pulled up by 0.55% to end at 6600.58 p. Meanwhile, the mid- and small-cap index, the EGX70 hiked by 0.30% to conclude at 526.72 pts. Price index EGX100 inched higher by 0.44% to finish at 877.36 p. Traded volume reached 110.500 million securities worth EGP 459.172 million, exchanged through 25.004 thousand transactions. This was after trading in 178 listed securities; 71 declined 91 advanced while 16 keeping their previous levels. The EGX's gains were backed by Egyptians and Arabs' buying deals. Egyptians and Arabs were net buyers seizing 69.97% and 6.09% respectively, of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 5.543 million and EGP 15.804 million excluding the deals. On the other hand, non-Arab Foreigners were net sellers seizing 23.94% of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 21.347 million excluding the deals. Leading Shares: EGX's leading shares witnessed upwards during closing. Orascom Telecom Holding: Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) (ORTE.CA) soared by 2.27% to finish EGP 3.61. Orascom Telecom Media & Technology Holding: Orascom Telecom Media & Technology Holding (OTMT.CA) hiked by 1.96% to close at EGP 0.52. Orascom Construction Industries: Orascom Construction Industries (OCIC.CA) went up by 0.77% to finish at EGP 280.21. Citadel Capital: Citadel Capital (CCAP.CA) maintained with no change at EGP 4.07. Citadel Capital (CCAP.CA), the leading private equity firm in the Middle East and Africa, announced Wednesday that it has narrowed its consolidated losses during the first half of 2012 by 2.9% to eventually reach EGP 283.5 million, compared to the year earlier losses of EGP 291.8 million. Citadel Capital further added that the firm's principal investments in its own transactions rose 14.8% in the first half of the year to US$ 1.1 billion (EGP 6.3 billion), with US$ 138.9 million in new investments this year being driven in large part by US$ 93.4 million in new equity invested in the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC), which reached financial close during the second quarter of 2012 in what stands as the largest single equity raising in Egypt since 2007 and the largest in the MENA region year-to-date. “Financial close on ERC represents a substantial de-risking for Citadel Capital as we closed one of the largest-ever project finance transactions in Africa," said Citadel Capital Chairman and Founder Ahmed Heikal. “We now look forward to a busy fall and winter period as we continue a strategic transformation that will see us take on more and more of the characteristics of a traditional investment / holding company. Management is fully committed to driving the growth of core platform and portfolio companies that are increasingly on the right side of macro fundamentals, as recent moves toward subsidy reform and energy deregulation in Egypt suggest." Golden Sachs had downgraded, in a recent study, on Tuesday Citadel Capital's stock from ‘Neutral' to ‘Sell'. Golden Sachs raised the company's fair value from EGP 3.5 to EGP 4.17, 9% lower than the stock's current price EGP4.6. Golden Sachs has attributed the downgrading to ‘Sell' to the stock's recent strong rally. Citadel Capital's Managing Director announced late Monday that it intends to inject $2.5 billion in a projected oil refinery in east Africa's third-largest economy Uganda Uganda has said it intends to build a refinery once it starts producing crude oil, and it recently raised its estimated oil reserves to 3.5 billion barrels from 2.5 billion barrels. Citadel secured $3.7 billion in financing for an Egyptian petroleum refinery project in June, and the firm's managing director Karim Sadek said the company is now looking at refining potential deals in sub-Saharan Africa, including Uganda. "Yes, we would be interested," Sadek told Reuters in Nairobi, where he addressed a business club. "We know very well what's happening on the Ugandan oil side and we've had discussions before." He said Citadel never invests in projects without a local partner, and he would not be drawn on the size of the investment the private equity group might make since the refinery plans are still in their infancy. Uganda has outlined plans to build a refinery in Hoima, about 220 km west of its capital Kampala, and in July the government said it was aiming to take up to a 40 per cent stake in the plant with a private investor acquiring the remaining 60 per cent. Uganda says it wants a facility with a maximum output of 120,000 barrels per day before production can commence, and that it intends to develop the project in phases, starting with a refining capacity of 20,000 barrels. EFG-Hermes: EFG-Hermes Holding (HRHO.CA) also maintained with no change at EGP 11.10.
