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Thursday, 19 August 2021

Heikal settles ‘absentia’ ruling + Stellar earnings for ORWE

MARKET NEWS– Qalaa Holdings Chairman Ahmed Heikal has settled a case involving a single USD 4 mn cheque, which saw him slapped with a travel ban back in June, the company said in a regulatory filing (pdf) today. Heikal was informed by authorities back then that he was not allowed to travel as the result of a court ruling handed down to him in absentia without him even being aware there were proceedings for him to attend (or to which to send his lawyer). The matter is now resolved, according to the filing. Qalaa shares followed the EGX down today, closing off 2.6%.

It’s a not-uncommon feature of our legal landscape for verdicts to be handed down without the defendant even being notified that they’re taking place. Verdicts issued in absentia are automatically set aside when the defendant appears and the court then re-hears the case. Legal scholars and lawmakers have for years called for the provision to be scrapped, most recently during a 2018 debate about the overhaul of the penal code.

EARNINGS WATCH-

Oriental Weavers saw its net income grow 461% y-o-y in 2Q2021 to EGP 299 mn, the carpet maker reported in its earnings release (pdf). Sales revenues grew 57.5% y-o-y for the quarter to EGP 2.9 bn.

Amer Group saw losses to the tune of EGP 33.9 mn in 2Q2021, down from a bottomline of EGP 17 mn in 2Q2020, the company reported in its consolidated financial statements (pdf). Revenues for the quarter declined to EGP 233.5 mn, down from EGP 386.8 mn during the same period in 2020.

MARKET ROUNDUP-

The EGX30 fell 0.9% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 1.9 bn (27.6% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is down 0.3% YTD as of today’s close.

In the green: Palm Hills (+1.9%), CIRA (+1.1%), and GB Auto (+0.7%).

In the red: Fawry (-5.0%), Speed Medical (-2.6%), and Raya (-2.5%).

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