CAIRO: Shares slipped on Sunday as mania triggered by last week s auction of Egypt s third mobile license faded and the market turned sluggish, with telecoms stocks generally lower, traders said. Existing mobile operator Vodafone Egypt dropped 4.7 percent to close at LE 88.66 ($15.37), while rival MobiNil fell 0.4 percent to LE 157.97. Traders said the telecoms shares were continuing a correction that began on Thursday following steep gains made after Emirati firm Etisalat won the mobile license with a bid of LE 16.7 billion. The dealers said telecoms sector sentiment remained generally positive, but investors were becoming slightly more cautious about growth projections for the existing operators once a third mobile firm starts operations. Definitely the growth is not going to be as projected, said Mohammed Radwan of Delta Securities. Telecom Egypt, which holds a minority stake in Vodafone Egypt, also slipped 4.0 percent to end at LE 12.41. But MobiNil s parent company, Orascom Telecom, bucked the downward trend, rising 0.3 percent to close at LE 260. Orascom Telecom said on Thursday that its Iraq subsidiary Iraqna had been granted a 3-month extension of its interim license to operate. Investment bank EFG-Hermes, the day s heaviest traded stock by volume and turnover, ended 2 percent higher at LE 32.75. Dealers said the stock was popular among retail investors. The benchmark Hermes index dropped 1.3 percent to 47,226.43 points, while the broader CIBC index closed 0.5 percent lower at 202.24 points. The widely watched Case 30 slipped 1.0 percent to 5,316.47 points. Reuters
