CAIRO: Talaat Mustafa Group (TMG) shares inched down to close at LE 13.28 on the second day of trading, after performing worse than expected on their market debut. Major stocks dropped Wednesday as shares of real estate developer TMG disappointed, dragging down the real estate sector, reported Reuters. On Wednesday, shares of Heliopolis Housing dropped 4.3 percent to LE 525.10 and Cairo Housing shed 5.1 percent to LE 13.90. Talaat Mustafa, which sold shares to private and public investors earlier this month, closed the first day of trading 23 percent above their IPO price and 16.8 percent above their private placement closing price. Shares debuted Wednesday at LE 11.38 and rose to LE 13.58 at market close, recording a 19.33 percent increase. However the market was expecting shares to close about LE 2 higher, prompting investors taking profits to sell other stocks including Mobinil and El Sewedy Cables. After market hype, performance on the first day of trading caused the benchmark Case 30 index to fall 0.55 percent, the Hermes index to fall 0.51 percent and the broader CIBC index to drop 4.2 percent. Still, total volume of TMG on the first day of trading reached more than 93 million shares with the total value of LE 1.269 million, which could make it the largest listing on the Case for 2007. Currently, the company's market capitalization stands at more than LE 27 billion, up from the initial LE 23 billion. Egyptian real estate developer TMG revealed early November plans to raise more than $750 million in a private placement and an initial public offering to be used to finance future projects in Egypt and the Middle East. The company increased its paid-in capital by some 180 million shares, of which 65 million were offered through an initial public offering and 115 million through the private placement. Shares in the IPO were valued at LE 11 per share; however, the IPO was more than 40 times oversubscribed amid strong demand from investors.
