AMOC shareholders decide to postpone stake sale until profitability restored: Shareholders in the Alexandria Mineral Oils Company (AMOC) have decided to hold off on the sale of a 20% stake on the EGX as part of the state privatization program until the company’s profitability rebounds, an unnamed government source tells Al Shorouk. According to the source, AMOC’s profits dropped 37.1% y-o-y during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. The government committee overseeing the privatization program is currently looking into whether to push AMOC’s sale to the second wave of companies or eliminate it from the program altogether if shareholders continue to object.

Background: The government had initially planned for AMOC to pilot phase one of the state’s privatization program in October alongside Eastern Company. AMOC’s stake sale had been expected at the time to raise EGP 2.8 bn in proceeds, the Finance Ministry said in September. The sale of an additional 4.5% share of Eastern Company on the EGX had been put on ice in October after its share price took a nosedive amid the emerging markets selloff. Public Enterprise Minister Hisham Tawfik said last month that a revised timeline for the first phase of the program has yet to be determined and will depend on the performance of both the EGX and of emerging markets generally in the coming period.