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Thursday, 4 August 2022

The Suez Canal Authority hasn’t given up on its IPO plans

The SCA still wants to take some of its companies public: The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) is considering listing three of its companies on the EGX by the end of 2022, Chairman Osama Rabie told Al Arabiya yesterday.

The authority has scaled back the potential offerings: The SCA chief said that the authority is considering selling 10-15% of the companies to investors on the EGX. Earlier this year, Rabie said the authority was looking to float 20% of the companies on the exchange.

Which companies could sell shares? That’s still TBD, with Rabie saying only that the most profitable firms will be chosen. The authority and the Finance Ministry are currently studying the potential sales, he said.

The SCA seemingly isn’t being deterred by the state of the markets: The EGX has had a tough year as soaring inflation, rising interest rates and the fallout from the war in Ukraine roil financial markets at home and abroad. The benchmark EGX 30 index has rallied in recent weeks, though remains in a bear market and is trading at levels not seen since late 2016.

Two IPOs have been pulled in the past month: Banque du Caire and Aman have both postponed plans to sell shares on the EGX until conditions stabilize.

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