OUR ANALYST OF THE WEEK- Eman Yahia Maree, sector head of consumers, healthcare, and industrials at Arab African International Securities (LinkedIn).

My name is Eman Yahia Maree and I have 14 years of experience in the financial sector. I started my career as a credit risk officer at HSBC, which I did for seven years before I decided to start from scratch in the research field. I became an equity analyst at MubasherTrade while I was studying level one of the CFA, which I received in 2019. I then became a senior financial analyst at Ostoul Securities before landing my position at Arab African International Securities (AAIS). I got promoted this year to sector head of consumers, healthcare, and industrials.

The best part of my job is connecting to international markets. Especially when it comes to industrials, what happens abroad affects the local market and you can make these links in your research. For example, when natural gas prices increased worldwide, we could also sense a shift on the ground here. Consumers and healthcare are more localized, but another thing I enjoy in the field is that you’re connected to top management and investors and there’s room to key performance and operations. You end up with a lot of information.

The worst part of my job is that it’s highly demanding. It requires long working hours and it’s very unpredictable — it can interrupt the best planned vacation [laughs].

My theory of investment is to look for strong fundamentals and attractive industry dynamics. This happens by digging deeper into the industry and analyzing its growth potential and dynamics and seeing how the individual stock situates itself within the bigger picture and how it compares to its peers.

The most important factor I look at is how the macro picture is moving and how it can affect the company performance by offering incentives for example. Industrials worldwide are now affected by the freeze in global supply chains and the exchange rate, and while this is the same in Egypt, companies who have export exposure are at an advantage. However, in consumers, a lot of companies import their raw materials so it’s now struggling due to the disruptions. As for healthcare, the industry is more localized and the dynamics depend on the spread of diseases here in Egypt. It’s a bit different for pharma as we do import raw material for meds which is a key risk. For example, when the EGP floatation happened most pharma companies saw their margins decline.

I think the EGX30 could close in the green for the year. We’re expecting an inflow of IPOs in the coming period as well as consolidation in the market in the form of M&As. The consolidation is already taking place such as in the recent M&As involving Cleopatra Hospitals Group, and SODIC. They help create synergies in the companies and investors usually see them as something positive.

I think 2022 could be the year of Egypt. We’re seeing more movement for public and private firms to reduce their dependence on imported materials and technologies by locally producing them instead. This will help reduce our foreign debt and enable us to take on more projects and investments. On the capital markets front, we’re excited about the state privatization program taking off. The EGX also has a huge potential as it is currently undervalued.

At one point, I’d like to try my hand at private equity. I’m fascinated by the process of due diligence in M&As. Private equity also gives you access to information on the private sector side which isn’t usually publicly available. I’d love this exposure.

In my downtime I like to listen to podcasts, especially those by the Wall Street Journal. They provide information quickly and in a way that’s enjoyable. Other than that, I do a lot of grocery shopping [laughs]. As a consumer analyst, I like to see the difference in pricing at the supermarkets and how the stocks I cover compare to competitive products.

I also do yoga and work out — it’s necessary in a stressful environment.

The last great thing I watched was Squid Game. I usually don’t like watching anything overly violent, but I found the story in the show very different.

The last great thing I read was The Mind Map Book. I like how it helps present information in a simplified and attractive way. I personally find it very useful to consolidate a lot of information and adding pictures helps me memorize things.

I stay organized by creating to-do lists. I started using an application called Any Do and it’s fantastic. I used to lose my physical notebook, but my phone is always on me so it’s efficient.

---

MARKET ROUNDUP-

The EGX30 rose 0.4% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 1.18 bn (12.9% below the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is up 6.3% YTD.

In the green: Rameda (+6.5%), Speed Medical (+3.7%) and Orascom Development Egypt (+3.1%).

In the red: Raya Holding (-2.1%), Elsewedy Electric (-1.4%) and Mopco (-1.1%).