OIH demerger begins…
The EGX30 was flat at today’s close on turnover of EGP 1.56 bn (8.5% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 6.46% YTD. (Yes, we know, it was really up 0.01% today. But that’s flat.)
In the green: GB Auto (+3.4%), Palm Hills (+2.9%) and Ibn Sina (+1.0%).
In the red: Ezz Steel (-2.5%), MM Group (-1.4%) and ElSewedy Electric (-1.2%).
THE SPINOFF OF ORASCOM FINANCIAL HOLDINGS from Orascom Investment Holding (OIH) dominated activities in the market today. Share ownership transfers of subsidiaries have begun, including Beltone Financial and Sarwa Capital. Shares of OIH were suspended today while this activity was going on, according to a regulatory filing (pdf) by OIH.
M&A WATCH- Other big news to hit the market today is Maridive Oil & Services officially receiving an offer from the Jeddah-based Al Subaie Investment Group to acquire 100% of its subsidiary Maridive Offshore Projects for USD 48 mn, Maridive said in a disclosure (pdf). Trading on shares of the company were suspended for a time to account for the announcement.
CATCH UP QUICK-
- The UAE’s Dana Gas saw a net loss of USD 376 mn in FY2020, down from a net profit of USD 157 mn in FY2019, the company said in a statement today (pdf). Of course the struggling outfit blamed Egypt, saying that it had a non-cash impairment of USD 244 mn from the sale of its Egyptian assets. Its CEO was in Bloomberg TV to talk through the losses (watch, runtime: 4:43).