Egypt shares fall, track world markets Egypt s benchmark index dropped 1.4 percent to 6,634 points as foreign investors sell shares, brokers said. The market is following the fall in Asian stocks and the weak opening in Europe, said Osama Mourad of Arab Finance Brokerage. Blue chip stocks are mainly hurt. Fixed line telephone monopoly Telecom Egypt slid 3.7 percent, automaker GB Auto fell 2.9 percent and Ezz Steel Rebars declined 2.1 percent. -Reuters TMG to sell stake in Tayseer Talaat Mustafa Group Holding (TMG) is planning on selling a majority stake in its fully-owned mortgage company Al-Tayseer, according to Al-Mal. Al-Tayseer started operations only two months ago after receiving its license in September 2007 and is one of five mortgage companies in Egypt. There are a total of eight licenses. "TMG s step to sell the majority of its mortgage business is, we believe, a good step at this point as its subsidiary is in need to liquidity and as the growth of the market seems to be taking a longer time to develop than expected, Beltone Financial said in its daily market report. TMG is looking to maintain a minority stake in the company, while allowing a key investment bank to control a majority stake. "The mortgage market in Egypt is still underserved and that the operational companies are still facing problems in tapping the vast majority of their target clients. .We see mortgage financing as being an important product once the procedural problems are resolved, Beltone added. Delta Sugar says local prices to make up for losses Abdel Hamid Salama, chairman of Delta Sugar, said that the increase in local sugar prices will help producers make up for losses incurred over the two months. He expects sugar prices to continue their uptrend locally, which would save the beet root sugar producing companies from defaulting on their obligations to farmers. Sugar prices are expected to reach LE 4,000 per ton after the global prices reached LE 3,500 per ton. -Al-Mal Egypt to mull short selling by year end The Egyptian Exchange will propose to the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority that short selling be allowed by the end of 2009. The new proposal aims to add a number of competitive advantages to the existing system to overcome bureaucratic impediments and a lengthy processing period which could undermine the attraction of such an instrument for institutional investors, the group most interested in using it, local press reported. EGAS to set up 8 new projects Mahmoud Latif, chairman of the Holding Company for Natural Gas (EGAS), announced that the company is planning to establish eight new projects within the projected plan of fiscal year 2009/10 with investment cost of $2.2 billion. -Al-Mal Lafarge to offer 2 million shares on bourse Lafarge Cement, previously Egyptian Cement Company, is looking into offering 2 million of its shares (2.5 percent of its share capital) to the public on the Egyptian Exchange. Later, the company will invite investment banks to serve as lead arrangers for the offering. -Al-Mal Pharmaceutical expenditures to reach LE 13 bln Expenditure on the pharmaceutical market in Egypt would increase from LE 13 billion to reach LE 20 billion by 2013, according to the Exporting Committee for Pharmaceuticals. -Al-Masry Al-Youm Steel, cement prices fall: CAPMAS Steel prices declined by 2.1 percent in August compared to July, according to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). Data also showed that during the same period, portland cement prices fell 3.9 percent while white cement prices dropped 2.5 percent. -Al-Alam Al-Youm Jotun signs LE 1 million contract with Alexandria Jotun Paints signed a LE 1 million contract with the governorate of Alexandria Governmental and Arab Contractors Company to deliver 40 tons of white and yellow road marking paint, the company said in a statement. Jotun Egypt has already supplied a total of 35 tons of paint, and is expecting to complete the delivery and paint works by the end of the year. The road marking initiative includes all the streets of Alexandria, including main thoroughfares such as Corniche St., Gamal Abdel Nasser St., Horreya St. and the Airport Road. North Coast development plan underway The strategic plan to develop the entire North Coast area will be finalized within one year, reported Al-Mal, quoting Minister of Tourism Zoheir Garanah. The plan will include development operations and offering land to investors for tourism, real estate and commercial projects. Plans include attracting 14 million tourists, building 240,000 rooms, to accommodate 140 million tourist nights, generating $10.5 billion in revenues by 2011, and which would create around 1.2 million direct and indirect jobs in the sector. By the end of 2008, revenues had already reached $10.8 billion, 211,000 rooms were built, with 191,000 under construction and tourist arrivals reached 12.6 million, he said.
