Thursday, 15 June 2017

CBE scraps caps on bank transfers abroad
Plus: good news from friends amid a Ramadan-induced food coma

TL;DR

What We’re Tracking Today

We’re nursing carbohydrate-induced hangovers this morning after the rare pleasure of an outstanding corporate iftar (thank you, Ovio, and your ridiculously good Turkish menu) followed by our first sohour with friends in approximately 1 bn years. So forgive us if we try to keep it somewhat brief this morning.

Speaking of friends: It’s an equally rare pleasure to note the accomplishments of folks we both like and respect:

First: Our friends at Al Masry Al Youm are celebrating 13 years as pioneers of the independent Arabic-language press in Egypt. AMAY, which traces its spiritual roots to the seminal newspaper Al Jihad of the British occupation era, built itself from an upstart into a stalwart of the free press, granting it the space to act as a “responsible voice of opposition” at a time when opposition is sorely lacking, founder Salah Diab says in an interview marking the occasion. (Diab, a noted member of the business community, is the grandson of Al Jihad founder Tawfik Diab.) In addition to looking back at its history since its launch in June 2004, AMAY takes the time to look ahead to its future plans, which include introducing more analytical content and expanding into the digital space. AMAY also marked its 13th birthday with interviews with Culture Minister Helmy El Namnam, and Naguib Sawiris, both of whom lauded the newspaper as a turning point in the country’s media landscape and journalistic history. Coinciding with the anniversary, the head of the newspaper’s investigative department, Ahmed Shalaby, managed to clinch a top prize at the EU’s 2017 Migration Media Award for his work on an investigative piece on illegal migration to Europe.

Second, we note that the good folks at EFG Hermes ranked second out of 33 global and regional research houses in this year’s Extel survey for MENA while maintaining its position as the top research house in the MENA region. Three team members ranked in the top ten in a field of 183 ranked research analysts, including Hatem Alaa (consumer), Elena Sanchez (financials) and Mohamed Abou Basha (macro strategy). Ahmed Shams El Din, head of research at EFG Hermes, tells us that the emphasis for the firm going forward will be to keep the quality of its regional research product high while “ramping up our frontier markets coverage, where we plan to initiate coverage of more than 150 companies in 15 new countries over the next nine months. We have hired a team of ten experienced frontier-based analysts (with more to come), have opened new offices in Karachi and are eying entry to Nairobi. Our aim is to offer insights and clarity in markets that are non-transparent.”

Last, but not least: The team at Renaissance Capital were named the top frontier markets brokerage firm in the 2017 Extel survey, marking the second year in the row the firm has held the ranking. RenCap took home a second-place finish in the Russian Economics and Macro category and was ranked seventh in the overall Leading Pan-Emerging Europe Brokerage Firms category. In the individual rankings, Charles Robertson was the top-ranked frontier markets analyst, while Yvonne Mhango was rated number three. Daniel Salter took home a fifth-place finish for Eurasia and Oleg Kouzmin was third in the Russian Economics and Macro category.

More soothsaying on the “impending” bust of EM debt, specifically Africa: Demand for African eurobonds, including Egypt’s USD 7 bn bonds, has been growing, apparently regardless of political risk. But according to Standard Group, the boom days may be over. The bank is warning that investors need to shed some of their African exposure, as these markets may turn as the Federal Reserve raises rates, driving U.S. Treasury yields higher and reversing flows to risky assets, writes Bloomberg’s Paul Wallace. “The bull market is living on borrowed time,” Dmitry Shishkin, an analyst at Standard Bank in London said. Rand Merchant Bank joined the fray, stating that investors should be careful not to focus too much on yields at the expense of the risks in Africa.

The doomsday talk came as the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates a quarter of a percentage point yesterday, its second rate hike in three months. The Fed “said it would begin cutting its holdings of bonds and other securities this year, signaling its confidence in a growing U.S. economy and strengthening job market,” Reuters reports.

So, when do we eat? Maghrib prayers are at 6:58pm CLT in Cairo, and the cutoff time for sohour is 3:08am.

CORRECTION- President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s decree that regulates the governance of the EGX specified that the chairmanship and vice-chairmanship are set at four-year terms that could be renewed only once. We mentioned incorrectly in yesterday’s email that the positions were capped at single-term limits. The entry has been corrected on our website.

On The Horizon

The House general assembly will debate the FY2017-18 budget on 19-22 June now that its Budget Committee has concluded its review, Vice Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said on Wednesday, according to Al Borsa. The House must vote on the budget before the current fiscal year ends on 30 June. This last minute scramble to get the budget passed is something we are well accustomed to.

Enterprise+: Last Night’s Talk Shows

The airwaves had little of interest to offer last night, which is a good thing too, as we all smurfed out and still suffering our carbohydrate hangover.

Speed Round

Speed Round is presented in association with

The central bank has officially scrapped all caps placed on bank transfers abroad. The central bank instructed that all restrictions on transfers to bank accounts abroad be removed starting from yesterday, but noted that banks must maintain their regular know-your-customer (KYC) protocols. Since January, the central bank had been imposing a cap of USD 100k per client on transfers after having loosened a restriction that only allowed one USD 100k transfer for each client regardless of the time period. The central bank says the move is to facilitate bank transactions and meet client demands. Governor Tarek Amer, who had promised last month the caps would be removed, said the move marks the end to the FX crisis in Egypt, Al Masry Al Youm reports. Banque Misr chairman Mohamed El Etreby told Youm7 that his bank had lifted restrictions yesterday. The story is gaining heavy traction in the foreign press, with the Financial Times, Bloomberg and Reuters taking note.

The decision will have an impact on global depository receipts trading: The EGX and the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority is looking into regulatory changes governing trading of GDRs in line with the lifting of transfer restrictions, EGX chairman Mohamed Omran tells MENA News Agency, according to AMAY. The new rules could do away with restrictions from 2012 and 2015, which include requirements that the proceeds from the sale of GDRs converted from EGX-listed shares be deposited in a CBE-approved bank and can only be withdrawn in the currency in which the original EGX shares were purchased.

Egypt’s balance of payments netted USD 11.0 bn in the first three quarters of FY 2016-17, of which USD 9.0 bn came after the EGP float in November, as the CBE made sure to outline in a bold typeface. The increase was driven almost entirely by the capital and financial account, which registered USD 24.6 bn during the period, from USD 14.6 bn in the comparable period in FY 2015-16. Egypt saw a net FDI inflow of USD 6.6 bn in the first three quarters of FY2016-17, mostly going to the oil sector. Portfolio investments grew to USD 7.8 bn during the same period, from USD 1.5 bn last fiscal year, on the increase in foreigners’ investment in Egyptian treasuries.

Merchandise exports increased by 19.3% y-o-y in the first three quarters, driving the trade deficit down by 9.4% y-o-y to USD 27.0 bn and the current account deficit by 12.4% y-o-y to USD 13.2 bn. The export increase was supported by the competitive advantage of the prices of Egyptian exports following the EGP exchange rate liberalization.

Although tourism receipts over the three-quarter period remain on the retreat with a 25.9% decrease, the silver lining is that 3Q 2016-17 tourism receipts figures increased by 128.3% y-o-y to USD 1.3 bn. Still underperforming, however, is the Suez Canal, with receipts falling 4.2% y-o-y over a decline in net transiting tonnage. Remittances inflows remain strong and have increased by 10.9% y-o-y to USD 4.62 bn.

Foreign companies operating in the market also managed to repatriate a collective USD 2.21 bn of their profits during the 9M2016-17.

The string of positive figures carried into the Egypt’s debt market, where apparently, foreigners increased their holdings by 7% in just over a week to EGP 155.9 bn (USD 8.5 bn), unnamed officials tell Al Borsa. Foreigners had bought treasury bills worth EGP 145.5 bn (USD 8.4 bn) since the EGP float, as of 6 June.

Back to the revival of tourism, where the number of tourists arriving in Egypt rose 51% year-on-year in the first four months of 2017, according to a Tourism Ministry statement. Arrivals from Ukraine and Poland more than doubled in 4M2017 compared to last year, while German arrivals increased by 50% y-o-y, Italian by 30%, and British by 20%. These increases come on the back of Egypt’s tourism promotional campaigns, which have launched in 11 overseas markets since September 2016, Tourism Promotion Authority chief Hisham El Demery said. The TDA has so far in 2017 used USD 9 mn of the yearly USD 22 mn earmarked for tourism campaigns, which will focus on marketing the winter season, El Demery said. 1Q2017 arrivals had also seen a 51% y-o-y jump.

Hurghada was the clear winner on the German package holiday market last month: Yet again, the recent resurgence has not gone unnoticed in the foreign press, with German travel outlet FVW noting that German bookings to Hurghada jumped a sharp 102% year-on-year in May, and declaring it the clear winner in German holiday package market. Meanwhile, Canadian publication Travel Week is charting the increase in the number of Canadian tourists visiting the country, noting that their numbers grew 22.9% in 1Q2017 (and 19% in March alone) despite repeated terrorist attacks. The conclusion: Egypt’s tourism market is definitely on the rebound.

Higher fuel prices in July look like they might be reality, unnamed Petroleum Ministry officials tell AMAY. With a projected energy subsidy bill next year of around EGP 140 bn — of which EGP 110 bn are earmarked for petroleum products and EGP 30 bn for electricity — the government doesn’t really have much of a choice, the sources explain. We noted earlier this week that some in the government were angling for a delay in plans to raise the price of 92-grade octane petrol by EGP 1 per liter to EGP 4.5 per liter starting 1 July. They say this delay might offset the effects of an inevitable hike in electricity prices coming next month. Electricity prices could rise by 10-15% for the lowest consumption brackets, while higher consumption brackets could see increases ranging from 20-40%, unnamed Electricity Ministry officials tell Al Borsa.

But some members of the House of Representatives appear want to delay energy pricehikes including fuel and electricity. A number of MPs reportedly sent official requests to the Electricity Ministry asking that it delay planned price increases to avoid adding to inflationary pressures, the newspaper adds. The requests also proposed different scenarios for the price hikes and suggests that the ministry also extend its timeline for the phase-out of electricity subsidies to 10 years. Minister Mohamed Shaker had said this week though that the government is already considering pushing the timeline by another two or three years instead of removing subsidies entirely by 2019 as originally planned.

Germany can exert more pressure on state-sponsors of terrorism, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi told Germany’s ARD Radio. He said terrorism will not get defeated by just fighting groups like Daesh, extremist ideas need to be combated, and warned German listeners of the potential for terrorist attacks. El Sisi is not looking for more military support from Germany, but says the country could have a more active role in cutting financing to terrorist-linked groups and states. The main goal now, according to El Sisi, is to dry out the funding sources of terrorism. ARD notes that El Sisi did not single out Qatar explicitly as one of those state sponsors of terror, but said the most recent boycott of the nation would not be destabilizing to the region and will not lead to “war.” El Sisi also reportedly spoke about human rights, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press in the interview. According to Al Shorouk, El Sisi insisted that no one in Egypt is above the law, even the president himself.

Will Rosatom have competition in Egypt? The Chinese pushing the sale of “new, small-scale nuclear reactor designs that could be used in isolated regions, on ships and even aircraft as part of an ambitious plan to wrest control of the global nuclear market,” according to a report by Reuters’ David Stanway. State-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) is set to launch a small modular reactor (SMR) called the “Nimble Dragon” within weeks, Stanway says. CNNC says it has been in discussions with a number of countries, including Egypt, as potential partners. SMRs are “a little bigger than a bus” and create “less toxic waste and can be built in a single factory,” compared to large scale reactors that cost upward of USD 10 bn per unit, more than 10 times the projected cost of SMRs. “‘Small-scale reactors are a new trend in the international development of nuclear power – they are safer and they can be used more flexibly,’ said Chen Hua, vice president of the China Nuclear New Energy Corporation, a subsidiary of CNNC.”

Keep it in perspective: SMRs power microwave ovens, nuclear plants power cities. Anything under about 500 MW counts as an SMR, while each of four reactors at the initial Daba’a facility Rosatom wants to build in Egypt is expected to generate at least 1.2 GW. China is looking at SMRs as loss leader of a form, having offered in January 2016 to build a 1 GW nuclear plant at Daba’a at a cost of about USD 5 bn.

House votes in favour of handing Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi: The House of Representatives voted after a heated and contentious plenary session yesterday in favor of an agreement that would transfer sovereignty over the Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia, Al Masry Al Youm says. This follows swift approval of the treaty by the House Defense and National Security Committee. The haste with which the treaty moved through the House enraged longtime opponents of the pact, according to Al Shorouk.

Supporters defend their decision: Members of the Support Egypt Coalition (the House majority bloc), MPs from the Salafist Nour Party and the liberal Free Egyptians Party all backed the agreement, basing their decision on a 1990 presidential decree that had defined Egypt’s maritime borders and excluded the two islands. That was the single piece of official evidence presented to back Saudi’s claim to sovereignty, they said. Majority bloc leader Mohamed Elsewedy defended the agreement’s viability, maintaining that the islands are in fact Saudi territory and arguing that the Armed Forces would have intervened if it had been in any way detrimental to national security or infringed on Egyptian sovereignty. Elsewedy noted that MPs chose to pass the agreement despite expectations of a public backlash.

It may all come down to the Supreme Constitutional Court: The vote, which ignored a verdict by the Administrative Court nullifying the treaty, could be moot if the Supreme Constitutional Court rules against the government. The State Commissioners Body of the Supreme Constitutional Court (as distinct from the body of the same name that is part of the administrative court system) issued a report contesting the government’s case that sovereign affairs are not the purview of the Administrative Court, stating that the argument does not apply in the case of the two islands. The Constitutional Court is set to begin looking into the case on 30 July, according to AMAY.

Calls for protest caused authorities to beef up security in Downtown Cairo yesterday. Eight people were reportedly arrested after clashes with police outside the Press Syndicate, according to Al Shorouk. The Egyptian Social Democratic Party also announced a sit-in at their headquarters to protest the House’s vote, while others called for a gathering in Tahrir Square. Bloomberg notes that the agreement “had triggered the largest protests against [President Abdel Fattah] El-Sisi since he took office in 2014” back when news of it first surfaced in 2016. AMAY has a timeline and infografic here detailing the story of this contentious agreement.

Forbes contributor Mfonobong Nsehe compiled a list of five Egyptian multi-mn’aires whose names “don’t ring with the African public, and you’ve probably never heard about them before, but they are very successful.” The list includes Amoun’s Tharwat Bassily and Ahmed Elsewedy. Groundbreaking, right?

** SHARE ENTERPRISE WITH A FRIEND **

Enterprise is available without charge — just visit our English or Arabic subscription page, depending on which edition you would like to receive. We give you just about everything you need to know about Egypt, in your inbox Sunday through Thursday before 7am CLT (8am for Arabic), and all we ask for is your name, email address and where you hang your hat during business hours.

Image of the Day

Humans can get over the urge to breathe underwater by relaxing and “[embodying] the energy that flows throughout the universe,” according to a Bloomberg Pursuits piece by Patrick Robert Scott. He writes about a Yoga for Freediving course he took in Dahab, a favorite diving spot, especially among Europeans. (Photo credit: Wendy Timmermans for Bloomberg Pursuits).

Egypt in the News

The House of Representatives’ ratification of the Tiran and Sanafir handover treaty is once again leading the conversation on Egypt in the foreign press this morning. The controversial pact, whose passage was announced “abruptly” by Parliamentary Speaker Ali Abdel Aal before discussions were concluded, could reignite rare protests in Egypt, Dahlia Kholaif writes for the Wall Street Journal. Security forces clashed with and arrested “several dozen” demonstrators who gathered outside the Press Syndicate on Tuesday evening to protest the agreement, AFP and the AP report.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times’ Heba Saleh takes note of the government’s website ban as part of the steps taken to prepare public opinion for parliament’s vote on the handover of the islands and suppress critical voices.

Egypt has been increasingly turning to desalination to meet pressing water needs, Patrick Werr writes in The National. He says desalination is becoming more attractive especially as Ethiopia begins filling the reservoir of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam that could reduce the flow of the Nile by as much as 20%. Werr says the option is becoming even more attractive as the cost of desalination is becoming cheaper. Wee notes that “Egypt’s future is almost certainly in desalination. But the government should eventually begin charging more for traditional sources of water to reflect its real value, something that will not be popular among a population that has enjoyed free water for millennia. At the same time, it must monitor desalination plants, whose brine and hot run-off can harm the marine environment, to ensure their negative effects are minimal.”

…Separately, the UK’s Sheffield University is collaborating with Port Said University to develop a hybrid system that uses biogas and solar power to desalinate water in Egypt, according to Filtration+Separation magazine. “The collaborative team will investigate whether biogas produced from biological matter (such as cattle manure) could be used as a feasible backup to solar,” the piece says. The two-year project targets communities that are most in need.

The European Union should do away with its “narrow approach of working with Egypt only on areas of mutual interest,” Yasser El-Shimy and Anthony Dworkin write in a policy brief for the European Council on Foreign Affairs. They say the EU “should also promote the rule of law, economic opportunities, more effective security, and political rights in Egypt. To do so, the EU should prioritise Egypt’s socio-economic development, refocusing the counter-terrorism debate, and limiting the worst excesses of the political crackdown.” This is how the EU can avoid “another crisis” in Egypt.

Other international news worth noting this morning in brief:

  • NPR’s Jane Arraf reports on the Christian community in Minya for NPR’s Morning Edition. (runtime 4:33).
  • A 32-year-old Egyptian who works at a petroleum company decided to start a beekeeping company at a farm in Beheira, saying that honey and bee production are safe investments in Egypt, Xinhua writes.
  • Sudan should continue to play the role of mediator between Egypt, theGCC and Qatar instead of choosing sides and antagonizing the situation, writes Yousif Yahya for World Policy Blog.
  • The arrests of political activists, a law giving the presidency authority to name the nation’s top judges, the NGOs law, and the blocking of websites are part of a pre-emptive campaign by the government as it faces challenges including the transfer of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia, Maged Mandour writes for Open Democracy.

Worth Reading

China’s investment spree has turned Africa into a testing ground for its emergence as superpower, with the Chinese government taking the view that these investments would channel into geopolitical capital, writes David Pilling for the Financial Times. While this is nothing new, Pilling’s piece gets down to the nitty gritty of the investments and providing interesting numbers and graphs on their level of growth. One figure that caught our eye was that 1 mn Chinese entrepreneurs have made their way to the continent, and contributing to the 20-fold increase in investments to USD 220 bn from 2000-2014. Egypt has been the biggest beneficiary of this explosion of Chinese investments, with USD 24 bn in Chinese direct foreign investment coming in from 2003-2017, far outpacing second place holder Nigeria, which stands at USD 6-7 bn.

“Africa has been a workshop of ideas that now have a much bigger scale and strategic significance,” says Howard French author of the book China’s Second Continent. Two styles of economic cooperation and trade appear to be at play. The first is an aggressive move in resource extraction, as Chinese companies have made an effort to corner the market for cobalt, with multi-bn USD purchases of stakes in mines in Congo in recent month. The other takes a more subtle, state-led approach, such as development programs in resource-poor countries such as Ethiopia, and of course the Belt and Road Initiative. African nations on the whole appear to see China’s involvement as a net positive, but the piece ends on a warning for African countries, calling on them to take control of their relationships and negotiate with China on its own terms.

Diplomacy + Foreign Trade

The time now is too early to talk about restoring ties with Qatar, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told the press on Wednesday, according to AMAY. The ban on Qatar will continue until the country “stops supporting terrorism,” Shoukry added, explaining that Egypt, Bahrain, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia are in constant talks to try and contain any fallout from the rift. Resolution, however, will only come after Qatar agrees to implement drastic changes to its vision and policies.

The Algerian and French Foreign Ministers urged Libya’s rival fighters to resort to a political solution, Reuters’ Hamid Ould Ahmed reports. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was in Egypt last week for talks including on Libya. This came days after FM Sameh Shoukry had a tripartite meeting with his Algerian and Tunisian counterparts where they came out supporting dialogue in Libya.

Energy

MIDOR seeks USD 1.2 bn facility to fund expansion plans

Middle East Oil Refinery (MIDOR) renewed its request for a USD 1.2 bn loan from a banking consortium including Italian bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole, a source tells Al Mal. The loan is set to finance expansion plans for its refineries, as it wants to bring its refining capacity up by 15% y-o-y in FY2017 to 39 mn bbl of refined crude. The facility is expected to be signed before year-end. A preliminary agreement had been signed last year. MIDOR then obtained a funding guarantee from the Italian Export Credit Agency.

Manufacturing

KIMA exports up by 130% by end of May since the start of FY 2016-17

The Egyptian Chemical Industries (KIMA) announced its exports increased by 130% by the end of May, compared with 1 July last year. KIMA’s revenues doubled, reaching EGP 562 mn driven by the surge in exports. Net profit recorded EGP 262 mn by end of May, the company said. KIMA also announced that 55% of its new ammonia and urea production plant is completed and that the project will be ready in November 2018.

Health + Education

Health Ministry plans to import 200K packs of hep C treatment Harvoni

The Health Ministry is planning to import 200k packs of Hepatitis C treatment Harvoni through a tender, whose results will be announced next week, Al Borsa reports. The ministry has reportedly only received two offers in the tender, which it issued earlier this month. Sources tell the newspaper that the ministry expects to pay EGP 650 per pack.

Telecoms + ICT

TE revenues from TE Data fall in 1Q2017

TE Data’s contribution to Telecom Egypt’s earnings plunged 98.6% year-on-year in 1Q2017 to EGP 1.38 mn from EGP 98.45 mn last year, according to a Central Accounting Agency report picked up by Al Mal. The drop comes mainly on the back of a 86% y-o-y decrease in TE Data’s net profit. This comes after we noted earlier this month that TE Data lost about 3,000 subscribers in 1Q2017, who switched over to internet provided by MNOs Orange, Vodafone, and Etisalat Egypt. Despite that, TE Data still retains its near-monopoly with a 75.3% share of the ADSL market.

Other Business News of Note

Minority shareholders approve MTO

Shareholders controlling just 0.45% of Cairo Specialized Hospital agreed to sell their shares to parent company Cleopatra Hospitals Group as part of a mandatory tender offer, according to a bourse disclosure. Cleopatra’s MTO aimed to acquire the outstanding 1.2 mn shares of Cairo Specialized Hospital that it did not already own. The deadline for the offer was 12 June. EFSA had greenlit Cleopatra’s acquisition of 46.32% of Cairo Specialized Hospital’s shares in mid-May.

Sports

US ups security measures for basketball team playing in Egypt next month

The US under-19 basketball team will be given the same level of security as an Olympic team when they travel to Cairo for the World Cup for men next month, The Associated Press reports. This means “more staff on the ground and greater intelligence shared.” The team also learned the event will be secured by the presidency, rather than the Sports Ministry. “So while we are very much aware of the challenges of security in Egypt, we have concluded that the venue … will be secured adequately and gives us confidence to send a team over there,” USA Basketball’s chairman Martin Dempsey said.

On Your Way Out

Egypt’s largest private-sector scholarship program has announced 12 recipients of full scholarships to pursue graduate studies at top global universities. The Qalaa Holdings Scholarship Foundation’s class of 2017-18 (which includes 10 Qalaa Holdings scholars and one recipient each of scholarships from TAQA Arabia and the Egyptian Refining Company) will be studying “at leading universities in US, UK, France and Sweden.” The foundation’s eleventh class brings to 163 the total number of scholarships awarded so far. This year’s recipients will be studying everything from filmmaking to health economics, law, archaeology, costume design, optics and photonics and transportation planning. Learn more about the program and this year’s class.

The markets yesterday

Share This Section

Powered by
Pharos Holding - http://www.pharosholding.com/

EGP / USD CBE market average: Buy 18.0415 | Sell 18.1412
EGP / USD at CIB: Buy 18.05 | Sell 18.15
EGP / USD at NBE: Buy 17.95 | Sell 18.05

EGX30 (Wednesday): 13,502 (-0.2%)
Turnover: EGP 1.0 bn (39% below the 90-day average)
EGX 30 year-to-date: +9.4%

THE MARKET ON WEDNESDAY: The EGX30 was down 0.2%. The EGX30’s heaviest constituent, CIB, was down 0.2% on the day. The index’s top performing constituents were Madinet Nasr for Housing & Development, up 2.5%, Eastern Company, up 2.4%, and Arabian Cement Company, up 1.8%. Yesterday’s worst performing stocks were Porto Group, down 4.9%, Amer Group, down 2.6%, and TMGH, down 2.1%. The market turnover was EGP 1.0 bn, and foreign investors were the sole net buyers.

Foreigners: Net Long | EGP +66.4 mn
Regional: Net Short | EGP -2.4 mn
Domestic: Net Short | EGP -64.0 mn

Retail: 54.3% of total trades | 54.9% of buyers | 53.7% of sellers
Institutions: 45.7% of total trades | 45.1% of buyers | 46.3% of sellers

Foreign: 30.5% of total | 33.8% of buyers | 27.2% of sellers
Regional: 6.4% of total | 6.2% of buyers | 6.5% of sellers
Domestic: 63.1% of total | 60.0% of buyers | 66.3% of sellers

WTI: USD 44.64 (-0.20%)
Brent: USD 46.96 (-0.09%)
Natural Gas (Nymex, futures prices) USD 2.95 MMBtu, (+0.44%, July 2017 contract)
Gold: USD 1,267.90 / troy ounce (-0.63%)

TASI: 6,853.54 (+0.48%) (YTD: -4.95%)
ADX: 4,535.57 (-0.04%) (YTD: -0.24%)
DFM: 3,450.78 (+0.26%) (YTD: -2.27%)
KSE Weighted Index: 398.53 (+0.11%) (YTD: +4.85%)
QE: 9,189.98 (+1.04%) (YTD: -11.95%)
MSM: 5,300.17 (-0.24%) (YTD: -8.34%)
BB: 1,327.03 (-0.03%) (YTD: +8.73%)

Share This Section

Calendar

26 May-23 June (Friday-Friday): Window for firms to submit expressions of interest to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for consulting on Egypt’s oil and gas sector reform, London, UK.

22 June (Thursday): Nile Summit scheduled to be held in Uganda.

26-28 June (Monday-Wednesday): Eid Al-Fitr (TBC).

30 June (Friday): 30 June, national holiday.

06 July (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee to review policy rates.

13-15 July (Thursday-Saturday): AGRENA’s 19th Annual Poultry, Livestock, and Fish show, Cairo International Convention Center, Cairo.

15-19 July (Saturday-Wednesday): SSIGE’s GeoMEast 2017 International Congress and Exhibition, Sharm El Sheikh.

23 July (Sunday): Revolution Day, national holiday.

03-05 August (Thursday-Saturday): Watrex Expo Middle East, Cairo International Exhibition & Convention Center.

17 August (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee to review policy rates.

26 August (Saturday): 27th Egyptian-Jordanian Joint Higher Committee meeting, Amman Jordan. (TBC).

02-05 September (Saturday-Tuesday): Eid Al-Adha, national holiday (TBC).

17-19 September (Sunday-Tuesday): Pipeline-Pipe-Sewer-Technology Conference & Exhibition, Intercontinental Citystars Hotel, Cairo.

18-19 September (Monday-Tuesday): Euromoney Egypt conference, venue TBD.

20-23 September (Wednesday-Saturday): 2017 Automech Formula car expo, Cairo International Convention Center, Nasr City, Cairo.

22 September (Friday): Islamic New Year, national holiday (TBC).

25-27 September (Monday-Wednesday): Egypt Downstream Summit and Exhibition, Kempinski Royal Maxim Palace, Cairo.

28 September (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee to review policy rates.

03-05 October (Tuesday-Thursday): J.P. Morgan’s Credit and Equities Emerging Markets Conference, London, UK.

18-19 October (Wednesday-Thursday): Middle East Info Security Summit, Sofitel El Gezirah, Cairo.

06 October (Friday): Armed Forces Day, national holiday.

11-12 October (Wednesday-Thursday): 2030 Mega Projects Conference, Nefertiti Hall, Cairo International Convention Center, Cairo.

11-13 October (Wednesday-Friday): Middle East and Africa Rail Show, Cairo International Convention Center, Cairo.

18-20 October (Wednesday-Friday): AfriLabs annual gathering with the theme “Smart Cities,” The French University, Cairo. Register here.

16 November (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee to review policy rates.

01 December (Friday): Prophet’s Birthday, national holiday.

03-05 December (Sunday-Tuesday): Solar-Tec, Cairo International Exhibition & Convention Centre.

03-05 December (Sunday-Tuesday): Electrix, Cairo International Exhibition & Convention Centre.

08-10 December (Friday-Sunday): RiseUp Summit, Downtown Cairo.

28 December (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee to review policy rates.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.