Dubai Group sells stake to OrascomDubai Group, the financial services company of Dubai Holding, said it sold its 15 percent stake in Egyptian Fertilizers Company to Orascom Construction and Industries for AED 720 million, realizing an internal rate of return of 105 percent, Emirates Business reported. The stake was bought in early 2007 through Dubai Capital Group. It was sold as part of the recent transaction between Orascom and Abraaj Capital, Dubai Group said in a statement. Through this exit, Dubai Capital Group has realized an internal rate of return of 105 percent, returning 5.75 times its original investment in less than three years, the statement said. Mustafa Farid Geninah, the Chief Executive of Dubai Capital Group who stepped down from the Egyptian Fertilizers board after the sale, said: Our successful underscores our exemplary track record in the region. In early 2007, we helped facilitate Abraaj Capital s 100 per cent acquisition of Egyptian Fertilizers, resulting in 226 percent return on equity for us. Through our final exit, which is worth AED 720 million from this investment, we have delivered further exceptional returns and value for our investors. By focusing on strategic investments in public equity, green fields, growth capital and leveraged buy-outs, Dubai Capital Group has become a leading investor in the Mena region. It has also partnered with the Qatar Investment Authority in June 2007 to structure the region s largest joint venture investment company with $1 billion in capital. Focused on banking, investments and insurance regionally and globally, Dubai Group has offices in Dubai, London, Pittsburg, New York, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, Dubai Group has business interests in 16 countries. Egypt to send computers to MozambiqueForeign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit has asked the Egyptian Fund for Technical Cooperation with Africa to send computer sets to Mozambique as part of logistic aid. The computers would be designated to the Mozambique Ministry of Science and Technology, the fund s Secretary General Nevine Ashmawi said Monday. Egypt believes in the importance of promoting the potentials of human resources in Africa. This technological aid package will enable human resources in Mozambique to play a leading role in the vital IT sector to promote development and help attract foreign investments, which would contribute to sustainable development in Africa, she added. -SIS Eye on the MarketEastern Tobacco posted a 20.7 percent rise in nine-month net profit to reach LE 556.4 million, the stock exchange said in a statement.Reuters reported that the company, Egypt s only cigarette maker, had posted net profit of LE 461.1 million in the same period of the previous fiscal year. -AgenciesNile Cotton Ginning s net profit fell 46 percent to reach LE 14.5 million in the nine months to March from the same period the previous year, the stock exchange said in a statement, according to a Reuters report. The financial year begins on July 1.The company s net profit in the July-March period of 2006/7 was LE 26.8, it said.Shares of Nile Cotton Ginning, a popular retail stock and one of Egypt s leading textile shares, fell 2.8 percent to LE 33.33 at 12.15 pm, Reuters reported, while the main market indexes were between 0.6 and 1.5 percent up. Egyptian Financial and Industrial Company (EFIC) reported 62 percent increase in net income in the first quarter of the fiscal year of 2008, compared to the same period last year. Net income reached LE 39 million in Q1 FY 2008, while revenues reached LE 158 million, recording a 66 percent increase. Alexandria Cement s first-quarter net profit before minority interest fell 5.6 percent to LE 35.5 million, the stock exchange said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.Alexandria Cement reported net profit before minority interest of LE 37.6 million in the first quarter last year, the bourse said. It gave no further details. -AgenciesTalaat Moustafa Group Holding announced that had reached an agreement - through its Saudi affiliate Areez Ltd - to acquire a 3.8 million square meter plot of land in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This falls in line with TMG s plan to develop a fully integrated residential city, following Al Rehab City model. This will be the second project for TMG in Saudi Arabia following its first one in Riyadh, which spread over an area of 4 million square meter. TMG s current land bank in Egypt is 42 million square meter.
