The Kuwait Investment Authority is not involved in a potential stake acquisition in United Bank

Newsletter

26 Apr 2023

The Kuwait Investment Authority is not involved in a potential stake acquisition in United Bank. United Bank is part of the Madbouly government’s rebooted privatization program, that means to divest 32 state-owned companies, curb government involvement in the economy, and shore up much needed FX. (Al Mal)

Egyptian soldiers who were caught in the clashes in Sudan have been transported to Khartoum and will be handed over to Egypt soon.
The soldiers were in the northern Sudanese town of Merowe for a joint training mission with their Sudanese counterparts when the fighting broke out over the weekend before Eid vacation. (Hapi Journal)
Domestic gold market resists global price decline.
The Egyptian Gold and Jewellery Trade Division (EGAJTD) said Egypt's gold market is experiencing an unwarranted increase of 2% despite a global price decline. EGAJTD noted that the price of gold in Egypt reached 2,004 USD per ounce compared to 1,996 USD per ounce globally. Interestingly, the price of Egypt's 21-carat gold rose on Monday evening and continued through Tuesday. EGAJTD believes this increase is unwarranted, given the stability of the exchange rate and the relative stability in local demand compared to the current supply volume. (Ahram Online)
Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said Tuesday the Treasury has gathered 500 million USD in transfers from Egyptian expats
under a provisional program allowing them to import customs-free cars. Around 100,000 people had registered to benefit from the special scheme since its launch on 15 November, Maait added. He said 800 imported cars had been released so far under the program. Maait reiterated that the deadline to benefit from the special program is 14 May and that expats who want to benefit from it must transfer before that date. (Ahram Online)
Egypt dedicates 5.5M tons of storage capacities for 2023 wheat supply season.
Egypt’s Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation has designated 5.5 million tons of storage capacities in preparation for 2023 wheat supply season. Minister Al-Sayed El-Quseir revealed that 21 silos affiliated to the milling companies have been developed, with a storage capacity of 530,000 tons, at a cost of about 60 million EGP. El-Quseir pointed out that this comes within the framework of the state's plan to increase the production capacities of local and premium flour for the production of subsidized bread, with an estimated daily production of 250-270 million loaves. (Arab Finance)
El Nasr Motors is currently negotiating with Indian and Chinese firms to partner on the development of a locally-made electric car.
The company’s previous attempts to choose a foreign partner for the project have been unsuccessful, with talks with Chinese firm Dongfeng falling through in 2021. (Al Mal)
CIRA BoD approves new loan to pay EBRD.
Cairo Investment & Real Estate Development’s (CIRA) BoD approved plans to apply for a new loan to meet its debt repayments to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The new loan is targeted to have a grace period of 2 years. CIRA had obtained a 25 million EUR loan from EBRD in 2019 to establish a university in Nasser City, Assiut. The decision was made after the CBE raised its lending rate to 19.25%. (EGX)
Egytrans’ board of directors approved the acquisition of trucking firm the National Transport and Overseas Services Company (NOSCO).
The transaction will see the company acquire 99.9% of NOSCO’s shares via a share swap and values NOSCO at around 174.1 million EGP. The acquisition is conditional on the approval of Egytrans’ shareholders at a meeting on 14 May. Egytrans will exchange one of its shares for every 0.0447 shares of NOSCO’s capital. This will see the company acquire nearly 3 million of NOSCO’s shares and in return issue 67.1 million new shares to NOSCO shareholders. A fair value study valued NOSCO at 58.033 EGP per share and Egytrans at 2.594 EGP. (Al Mal)
Menzies Aviation, a subsidiary of Kuwait-based Agility, signed a subscription agreement to acquire a 50.1% stake in TAP Air Portugal’s aviation services subsidiary, Groundforce.
National Aviation Services (NAS), which was merged with Menzies Aviation under Agility's ownership last year, was chosen as the preferred bidder for Groundforce last August. Once the agreement closes, Menzies Aviation will have a 65% market share in Portugal, operating at five airports with over 3k employees. (Zawya)
Faisal Islamic Bank’s standalone profits rise 81% YoY in Q1.
Faisal Islamic Bank’s standalone net profits after tax surged 80.6% year on year (YoY) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023 to 2.15 billion EGP, compared to 1.19 billion EGP. Revenues grew 48.9 % to 5.58 billion EGP in Q1 2023 from 3.75 billion EGP in the same quarter last year. (EGX)
E-commerce platform Noon has slashed 10% of its jobs to trim costs.
The downsizing included cutting jobs in marketing, advertising, and other departments. The global tech sector has seen its largest bout of job cuts in recent months, with Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta Platforms all ending worker contracts after they were left overstaffed due to a hiring binge during the pandemic. (Zawya)
But some outfits in MENA are defying the tech sector slump and continue to attract funds from investors.
The IPO scene in the region continues to see strong performers, pushing bankers to look at Noon and other tech firms as good prospects for floatation. Nevertheless, Noon’s founder told Bloomberg that there are no plans for going public. (Zawya)