OUR ANALYST OF THE WEEK- Toka Elwazery, equity research associate at Beltone Financial (Linkedin).

My name is Toka Elwazery and I’ve been at Beltone for three years. I graduated from AUC with a double major in finance and accounting. I’ve covered several sectors since joining the research team, starting off with industrials, consumers, and healthcare; now, I cover education and real estate in Egypt and the GCC. The shifts helped me a lot in my career as each sector taught me a new aspect I should pay attention to or a different way to create models. However, education was my favorite sector to cover, especially since there’s so much potential growth in the industry at the moment. It’s also easy to link it to the real world and measure your analysis with what’s happening on ground.

The best part of my job is that I’m always on top of the news. I read a lot as part of my job since I always have to be up to date with what’s happening in the market and the sectors I cover. The years working have made me more knowledgeable and gave me exposure to areas I might not have interacted with otherwise.

The worst part of my job is when market slumps occur. The cyclical nature of the market means that there are times when people stop looking at a sector or the entire stock exchange in general. We’ve been seeing a bit of that lately as the EGX experiences low trading volumes. That means that interactions with foreign investors decrease and you lose that exposure.

I think physical roadshows will increase next year, but it depends on the vaccination rollouts across countries. Some people might also prefer to stick to the virtual rendition of roadshows because it’s easier to implement logistically and less cost-intensive. However, I’m particular to physical roadshows. I was very lucky to have gone on a roadshow from a very young age and it was one of the best experiences I’ve had professionally. You travel and meet people from different backgrounds and cultures and you get to know their personal investment strategies. I learned a lot from hearing the questions thrown at me and bit by bit I got more confident in presenting my ideas in a creative way and tailoring my approach based on the reception I got.

I like to take a top-down approach when looking at stocks. I explore the country first and see whether it has an interesting growth story, and then I look at the company’s fundamentals and its management very closely. I also like to look at the stock’s trading history. Some stocks move up or down arbitrarily despite news that should have seen it move in a specific direction. Other stocks are strong fundamentally but have liquidity issues or are in a troubled industry.

I recommend investments based on the person I’m talking to. I try to figure out their investment strategy, their risk appetite, and their overall psychology. I learned to ask a lot of questions to get a good idea of what works for a specific investor and then I use that to recommend a suitable stock. One of the things I ask about is what is already in their portfolio as I believe investors should diversify their investments.

I’m not sure if the EGX30 will close this year in the green. I think the upcoming e-Finance IPO will say a lot. It could be a big trigger for the market by increasing investor confidence in the EGX.

I think 2022 could be the year of Egypt. People underestimate the potential of the country and its market. The fixed income market is doing well and there’s a lot of untapped value in the equity market. Everything else is also on track on the macro level with the boost from infrastructure and other megaprojects. Egypt is the place for people to invest in after the pandemic and I think there’s a chance the market could rally. Yes, there are risks, but the long-term outlook is positive.

I’m currently watching The Good Doctor. I appreciate their passion on the show and how they take any challenge and overcome it with new ideas. Before that, I watched the last season of Money Heist and I really enjoyed it.

The last great thing I read is The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton and Lara Love Hardin. The novel talks about a man who was falsely imprisoned for 30 years and how he managed to hold onto hope and kindness despite his conditions.

In my downtime I like to play sports. I’ve been an athlete since I was three years old and I was in Egypt’s national team for badminton when I got older. We played a ton of international tournaments and won the African championship several times. Otherwise, I like to spend time with family or travel. My favorite destination in Egypt is Luxor and Aswan — I enjoy places that have stories and history to them.

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EARNINGS WATCH- Domty reported EGP 51 mn in net income in 3Q2021, up 24% y-o-y from EGP 41.3 mn in the same quarter last year, according to an earnings release (pdf) citing unaudited figures. The company recorded EGP 956 mn in revenues, up 32% compared to 3Q2020.

MARKET WATCH-

The EGX30 rose 0.7% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 811 mn (46.4% below the 90-day average). Regional investors were net buyers. The index is down 0.6% YTD.

In the green: ElSewedy Electric (+3.6%), Orascom Development Egypt (+2.5%), and Ibnsina Pharma (+2.2%).

In the red: AMOC (-3.9%), Pioneers Properties (-3.4%) and Raya Holding (-1.9%).