CAIRO: Shares of Palm Hills hit their highest level since early November on Sunday, lifting Egypt s broader market as investors deemed them cheap compared to the value of the company s land. Egypt s second-largest developer by market value surged 10.49 percent to LE 8.74 ($1.60), extending gains since Jan. 13, when it said the value of its land suggested its share price was about six times too low. A land valuation by CB Richard Ellis suggested the share should be worth LE 44.60, the company had said. Palm Hills has been gaining because of the research on the value of its land, said Hashem Ghoneim, vice chairman of Egypt-based Pyramids Capital. Shares of Nile Cotton Ginning also surged as investors deemed the share price too low compared to expected earnings. Shares of the firm, up more than 5 percent this year to Thursday s close, gained 11.07 percent to LE 14.45. It has a lot of real estate and its land bank is worth much more than its share price, Ghoneim said. The broad-based CIBC index rose 1.88 percent to 302.8 points, and the Hermes index gained 0.12 percent to 413.61 percent. But the benchmark index extended drops for a seventh session, weighed down by fertilizer-maker Orascom Construction Industries. Shares of Orascom, down nearly 9 percent this year, retreated 3.42 percent to LE 123.40. The CASE 30 shed 0.61 percent to 4,300.45 points. Commodities as a whole worldwide have gone down, said Teymour El-Derini, trader at Egypt-based investment bank Beltone Financial.
