The Madbouly government is reportedly looking at adding a secondary stake sale in the EGX-listed Export Development Bank to its rebooted privatization program

Newsletter

09 Apr 2023

The Madbouly government is reportedly looking at adding a secondary stake sale in the EGX-listed Export Development Bank to its rebooted privatization program. Also, the Central Bank of Egypt’s digital payments app InstaPay is now operational when being used outside of Egypt, according to a statement. The app, Egypt’s answer to Venmo, previously did not allow users to make payments through the digital network unless they were physically present in the country. (Al Mal)

Amman- and Dubai-headquartered hygiene products manufacturer Fine Hygienic Holding (FHH) has acquired Alexandria-based health and beauty company Easy
The acquisition includes Easy Care for Cosmetics and New Easy for Cosmetics. The acquisition seeks to expand Fine’s product offering in Egypt: The acquisition will enable FHH to “provide consumers with a comprehensive array of wellness products,” said CEO James Michael Lafferty. “Egypt is a pivotal market for our group, and we at FHH are eager to be able to expand our offerings throughout the country and beyond.”. (Al Mal)
The EGX-listed Paint and Chemical Industries (Pachin) continued after Eagle Chemicals again increased its offer in response to the improved bid by National Paint Holding (NPH) lodged last week
The local chemicals company is now offering to purchase at least 75% of state-owned Pachin for 39.00 EGP per share, up c.5% from its previous 37.00 EGP per-share bid. The new bid values the company at 936 million EGP. Eagle Chemical’s new bid is more than 3% above NPH’s offer. The Emirati company last week raised its offer to purchase at least 75% of the company to 37.75 EGP a share. (Al Mal)
e-finance signs deal with Saudi Thiqah to expand business
e-finance for Digital and Financial Investments has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Saudi firm Thiqah Business Services. Under the deal, both companies will provide digital solutions, electronic payment services, and integrated technological systems needed by the private and public sectors in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. (Arab Finance)
EGX sees downturn at Thursday’s close
The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) has ended Thursday’s trading session in the red zone, with the benchmark EGX30 index losing 1.82% to close the session at 16,709.28 points. The small- and mid-cap EGX70 (EWI) inched down 0.35% to 2,945.58 points, while the EGX100 slipped 0.55% to 4,420.09 points. Meanwhile, the EGX50 equal-weight index (EWI) shed 0.62%, finishing the session at 2,891.93 points. Trading volume amounted to about 407.816 million shares exchanged through 60,327 transactions at a turnover of nearly 1.5 billion EGP. Moreover, market capitalization ended the session at nearly 1.075 trillion EGP. (EGX)
EFG Hermes concludes advisory on AAFS’s 210.5 million USD IPO on DFM
EFG Hermes’ Investment Banking Division has completed advisory on Al Ansari Financial Services’ (AAFS) 210.5 million USD initial public offering (IPO) on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). The transaction marks EFG Hermes’ fourth joint global coordinator role in the last six months. AAFS offered 10% of its share capital, or 750 million shares, for sale at a par value of 1.03 AED per share, which implies a market capitalization of 7.73 billion AED. The IPO was 22x oversubscribed. (Al Mal)
Adnoc L&S, the shipping and logistics arm of state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, is aiming to raise around USD 1 bn in an IPO that could go to market as soon as May
Adnoc has yet to make a public announcement on the possible IPO and has so far declined to comment on the alleged plans. The bookrunners for the transaction are EFG Hermes, Credit Agricole, Societe Generale, Arqaam Capital, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, and International Securities. Global coordinators for the transaction are HSBC Holding, Citigroup, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and JPMorgan. (Bloomberg)
Egypt's trade deficit narrows by 47% YoY in January
Egypt’s trade balance deficit dropped by 47% year on year (YoY) to 2.48 billion USD in January, compared to a deficit amounting to 4.68 billion USD in the same month of 2022. The value of Egyptian exports decreased by 7.1% YoY in January, reaching 3.85 billion USD. Likewise, imports fell by about 28.2% YoY to 6.33 billion USD. In December 2022, the country’s trade balance deficit dropped by 54% YoY to 1.93 billion USD. (Asharq business)
Suez Canal records highest-ever monthly revenues in March
The Suez Canal has recorded its highest-ever monthly revenues in March, hitting 832.2 USD, up 38.5% from 601.7 million USD in the same month of 2022. In March, a total of 2,191 ships carrying a net tonnage of 129 million tons have passed through the canal in both directions, up from 1,816 vessels with a net tonnage of 107 million tons in March 2022. In the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, the canal’s total revenues jumped by 40.6% to 2.382 billion USD, compared to 1.694 billion USD in Q1 2022. (Al Mal)
Egyptian investment management firm Orascom Investment Holding (OIH) BoD approved plans to launch a company in Egypt under the name O-Trade & Logistics to provide logistics services across Africa
The company’s board voted unanimously to set up the company. The company will provide its services through an online B2B platform, OIH CEO Marwan Hussein stated. The platform is set to launch sometime in 1H 2023, Hussein said. OIH did not provide further details on the size of investments set to be poured into the platform. (Hapi Journal)