FRA’s launches 1st gold fund in Egypt yesterday
FRA’s launches 1st gold fund in Egypt yesterday. Investors will be able to start buying into Azimut and Evolve Holding’s new gold investment fund. The fund will invest only in 24-carat gold bars and carries no minimum or maximum investment amount. Investment certificates worth as little as 10 EGP will be sold at Egypt Post branches. The imposes no minimum or maximum investments and allows subscribers to fully or partially redeem their certificates either in cash or a minimum of 50 grams of gold. The fund was greenlit by the FRA earlier this month. (Asharq Business)
- Egypt has got its privatization program up and running with the sale of a 9.5% stake in Telecom Egypt to institutional investors.
The government raised nearly 3.75 billion EGP (121.3 million USD) after selling 162.2 million shares in the state-owned telco for 23.11 EGP a piece — TE’s closing share price on Thursday. This is the first sale under the privatization program launched in February, under which the government aims to sell stakes in 32 companies by March 2024. (EGX)
- The Finance Ministry’s accelerated book building process saw the secondary share sale covered 3.1x.
The government is yet to reveal which institutions purchased shares in the company. International, regional, and domestic institutional and high-net-worth investors subscribed, without disclosing further details. Getting foreign investors on board with the privatization program is key if the government is going to use asset sales to address our acute shortage of FX. Selling to locals in EGP is fine if all you’re trying to do is get the state out of the economy, but does little to bring in fresh inflows of hard currency. (EGX)
- Egypt releases 134 million USD worth of fodder from ports in week.
Egypt has released 308,000 tons of corn and soybean fodder worth 134 million USD from the country’s ports during the period from May 4th to May 11th this year. This marks the largest amount of fodder released from ports since October 16th, 2022. The released amount comprised 251,000 tons of corn worth 90 million USD, 57,000 tons of soybeans worth 43 million USD, and 1.4 million USD worth of feed additives. (Hapi Journal)
- Moving to Egypt’s monetary policy, April’s cooler inflation reading, the central bank of Egypt will have the chance to keep rates on hold at its next meeting on Thursday, 18 May.
The CBE has raised interest rates by 1000 bps over the past year after delivering a jumbo 200-bps rate hike in March. CBE Governor Hassan Abdalla last month expressed doubts on the effectiveness of monetary policy to curb inflation, and said that policymakers need to be “very careful” about tightening policy further. (Zilla Capital)
- Agthia, Emirati food company, one of the leading companies in the field of food and beverage production, is competing with local investors to buy Safi.
A number of local and Gulf bids are competing to buy the company, including the Emirati food company, which has expressed interest in buying the company since it is also engaged in water bottling busines. Agthia, owned by the “ADQ” fund, one of the sovereign funds of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, has been active in several local deals during the recent period and acquired the Ismailia Poultry Company, and also acquired 60% of the “Auf” group, one of the largest companies specialized in the manufacture and sale of coffee products and meals. (Economy Plus)
- CIB’s Q1 consolidated profit jumps 43% YoY.
Commercial International Bank Egypt (CIB) reported a 43% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit after minority interest for the first quarter (Q1) of 2023. Consolidated net profit attributable to the bank amounted to 6.065 billion EGP in Q1 2023, compared to a profit of 4.244 billion EGP in Q1 2022. Net interest income rose 62% YoY, hitting 10.884 billion EGP, compared to 6.717 billion EGP. CIB, the leading private sector bank in Egypt, provides banking services across the country through more than 200 branches and units. (Mubasher)
- Orascom Development’s consolidated profits drop 30.6% YoY in Q1.
Orascom Development Egypt posted a 30.62% decline in its consolidated net profits after minority interest, recording 291.488 million EGP during the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, compared to 420.108 million EGP in Q1 2022. Revenues reached 2.952 billion EGP during Q1 2023, up by 52.85% from 1.931 billion EGP in Q1 2022. (Mubasher)
- Oriental Weavers' consolidated profit surges 74% YoY in Q1.
Oriental Weavers Carpets (ORWE) posted a 73.79% year-on-year (YoY) increase in consolidated profit attributable to the parent company for the first quarter (Q1) of 2023. The company recorded a consolidated profit attributable to the parent company of 410.613 million EGP in Q1 2023, up from 236.264 million EGP in the same quarter a year earlier. Net sales climbed by 26.87% YoY, hitting 4.142 billion EGP during the first three months of this year, compared to 3.264 billion EGP during the January-Mach period of 2022. (Mubasher)
- SCZONE ready to launch bunkering service at Port Said port within days.
The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) has announced the arrival of bunkering service vessels at Port Said port that would start operations within days. The CRONUS vessel arrived at the waiting area of Port Said port with a 150,000-ton load, along with the two supplying floats, namely ANDROS with a 4,000-ton tonnage and KYTHIRA with a 6,000-ton tonnage. The move comes within Egypt’s framework to become a regional hub for marine services and ship bunkering. (Arab Finance)
- Egyptian Refining company's dues surpass 618 million USD to the government.
The Egyptian Refining Company, a subsidiary of EGPC, owes the government over 618 million USD, with Qalaa Holdings, owning 13%, suffering losses of 2.3 billion EGP in 2022, largely due to currency depreciation. Egyptian Refinery contributes to 20% of Egypt's gasoline and diesel production with a production capacity of 4.7 million tons per year. (Asharq Business)
- And finally, for our investment talks, Ashok Leyland, a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group, could partner with state-owned firm El Nasr Automotive to form a joint venture for locally-made electric vehicles.
The government has been searching for a replacement partner since talks with Chinese firm Dongfeng fell through in 2021. Also, Maridive & Oil Services’ board of directors approved last week Saudi conglomerate Al Gihaz Holding’s bid to acquire two non-operational marine units and a dormant Saudi unit owned by its subsidiary, Valentine Maritime, for a total of 115.6 million USD to settle the group’s bank debt and trade liabilities. (Enterprise)
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