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DUBAI: Equity funds investing in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are sitting on high cash piles, signaling a lack of conviction and absence of viable opportunities in a region touted as the next big emerging play. Research suggests MENA funds are holding as much as a quarter of their assets in cash against …
Egypt’s National Cement achieved an 18 percent increase in annual net profit as its sales inched higher, the company said in a note to the stock exchange on Monday. The firm’s unaudited net profit was LE 321.7 million ($56.4 million), the note said. Sales by volume in the fiscal year to June 30 were 3.1 …
Export Development Bank of Egypt (EBDE) said net profit for the year to end-June dropped 26 percent and it was proposing to increase its capital, the stock exchange reported on Tuesday. The exchange had suspended trade in the bank’s shares earlier in the day until it sent its financial results for the year. EDBE’s board …
Egypt plans to spend an initial LE 60 billion ($10.5 billion) to upgrade the country’s irrigation network, a newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing the agriculture minister. Countries along the Nile will need more water as their populations grow, a development which could affect Egypt’s share of the river’s flow, Al-Mal quoted the minister, Amin Abaza, …
JEDDAH: The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has made much progress to clear the last obstacles for the bloc’s long-awaited customs union but total completion will take two to three years, Kuwait’s finance minister said. The introduction of a customs union in 2003 had been hailed by officials as a major achievement, countering critics’ claims …
DUBAI: Emirates Telecommunications Corp, the Arab world’s second-largest telecom operator by market value, does not expect a deal with India’s Reliance Communications in 2010, its international chief said on Tuesday. Jamal al-Jarwan, Etisalat’s international chief, told Reuters the company is considering different options in the Indian market and did not rule out an investment in …
CAIRO: Egypt’s government signed a deal to allow Egyptian companies access to farm land in Sudan, the first deal of its kind between the two countries, an agriculture ministry official said on Monday. The agreement would allow Egyptian firms to grow crops on 1 million feddans (1.04 million acres) of land, said Saad Nassar, advisor …
Egypt’s balance of payments swung into surplus in the year to end-June from a deficit a year earlier, the central bank said on Monday. The surplus for 2009/10 was $3.36 billion versus a deficit of $3.38 billion in 2008/09. The country’s current account deficit narrowed to $4.32 billion in the year to end-June from $4.42 …
Egypt’s current account deficit narrowed to $4.3 billion in the year to end-June from $4.42 billion year earlier, the central bank said on Monday. Direct investment into Egypt slid to $6.76 billion from $8.11 billion a year earlier. The balance of payments registered a surplus of $3.36 billion versus a deficit of $3.38 billion a …
Egypt’s General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) said on Sunday it had bought 57,200 tons of rice from the local market through a tender. Nomani Nomani, vice chairman of GASC, told Reuters the price range was LE 2,000-2,230 ($360.9-$402.4) per ton. The quantity was due to be supplied to consumers under the subsidy program between …
Mobinil, Egypt’s top mobile firm by subscribers, is considering issuing bonds with a value of LE 1 billion ($180 million), its chief executive said on Monday. Asked whether Mobinil planned to issue LE 1 billion worth of bonds, Chief Executive Officer Hassan Kabbani said in a text message sent to Reuters that "it is …
ABU DHABI: Banks in the United Arab Emirates have been directed by the central bank to provide more frequent details of remittances to Iran, bankers said on Monday, in an apparent tightening of scrutiny in line with U.N. sanctions. The United Arab Emirates, a U.S. ally with a large expat Iranian population in the emirate …
UAE-based Dana Gas said on Sunday it had made another gas discovery in Egypt, the firm’s fourth gas find in the country. The well, South Abu El Naga-1ST in the Nile Delta region, has preliminary estimated reserves of 50 to 90 billion standard cubic feet of gas, with 1 to 2 million barrels of associated …
Wheat reserves held by Egypt, the world’s biggest wheat importer, will last until the end of January, a local newspaper quoted an official as saying on Friday. "The safe strategic reserve of wheat will now last until the last week of next January instead of December, the date previously announced in August," Al-Masry Al-Youm said, …
Egyptian investment bank Beltone Financial said on Sunday its shares listed on the Egyptian stock exchange would start trading before the end of 2010, part of a strategy that was delayed by merger plans. Plans to merge with Pioneers Holding, announced in November, had delayed activation of the shares, Beltone head of investor relations Osama …
Citigroup downgraded Egypt’s Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) to "sell" from "hold," saying ongoing fierce competition across the Middle East and North African region’s construction market would lead to margin erosion for the company over the medium term. The brokerage said OCI’s management stated that it would not compromise on margins for the sake of new …
HSBC upgraded Olympic Group to "overweight" from "neutral," citing an attractive valuation, and said the Egyptian appliance maker’s capacity expansion plans are on track. Capacity expansions related to Olympic’s agreement with Sweden’s Electrolux and potential original equipment manufacturers’ sales are progressing as planned, HSBC said. Olympic Group, which specializes in making automatic washing machines, refrigerators, …
State-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corp (EGPC) sold 350,000 tons of naphtha for September-December loading from Suez, with JPMorgan sweeping up 60 percent of the volumes, traders said on Thursday. JPMorgan will be lifting six cargoes, each at 35,000 tons, at premiums of $2.00-$5.00 a ton to Middle East quotes, on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. Glencore …
Egyptian paintmaker Pachin said on Thursday its full-year net profit rose 70 percent to LE 154.7 million ($27 million). Net sales at Egypt’s largest listed paint maker increased 9.5 percent to LE 703.8 million. Pachin’s chairman said in November Egypt’s paint market was growing at 2 percent above the economic growth rate, as housing demand …
Talaat Moustafa Group, Egypt’s biggest listed property developer, said on Wednesday it has bought out Kingdom Hotel Investments’ stake in a Four Seasons hotel in Cairo as it builds up its hotel business. The company said in a statement its $145 million purchase of Kingdom’s minority stake gives it full ownership of the hotel, which …
Egypt’s benchmark index gained, led by Arab Cotton Ginning on expectations the firm will pay a big dividend in the coming weeks. "We are hearing rumors there is going to be a huge dividend payout soon," said Hashem Ghoneim from Pyramids Capital. "Since it is up today it pulled the whole sector with it." Arab …
LONDON: OPEC crude oil supply fell in August to the lowest since November 2009 as reduced supplies from Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq offset increased output in Angola, a Reuters survey showed on Wednesday. Supply from the 11 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries with output targets, all except Iraq, …
Egyptian real estate firm Heliopolis Housing has proposed a cash dividend of LE 1.30 ($0.228) per share. The firm, which made net profit for the year to end-June of LE 151.5 million, jumping 52 percent from a year earlier, is expanding investments in real-estate projects across the capital and its suburbs, it said in the …
Russian telecoms group Vimpelcom Ltd’s board has provisionally approved the purchase of Italian mobile operator Wind and a stake in Egyptian group Orascom Telecom, Vedomosti reported on Wednesday. The business daily, citing unnamed sources, said Vimpelcom’s key shareholders, Altimo and Telenor, gave their general approval to the acquisitions at a meeting last week but also …
ALGIERS: Algeria has dropped Orascom Telecom’s adverts from all of the country’s terrestrial television stations, a source with direct knowledge of the situation said, the latest move in a long-running dispute. Egypt-based Orascom Telecom has been locked in a disagreement over its Algerian unit since the Algerian government last year hit it with a back …
CAIRO: El Kahera Housing led gains in Egypt’s main index on market talk the firm is the target of an acquisition and is eyeing buying new land. Traders said Egyptian brokerage Pioneers Holding is looking into acquiring El Kahera, whose shares rose 4.7 percent. "(There is talk) Pioneers wants to acquire all of El Kahera …
The Egyptian pound traded as low as 5.7055 to the dollar on Tuesday, its weakest since January 2007. "Foreigners are going out of the stock exchange," said a forex dealer at an Egyptian bank, putting selling pressure on pounds as they exit Egyptian equities. He added that the pound remains above its support level of …
A commission chosen by Algeria will start evaluating next month how much Algeria should pay to acquire the local unit of Egyptian operator Orascom Telecom, an Algerian newspaper reported on Tuesday. Orascom Telecom and its shareholders are eager to see signs of progress after months of deadlock over the future of the unit — the …
Egypt’s M2 money supply rose to LE 922.6 billion ($161.7 billion) at the end of July from LE 917.5 billion at the end of June, the central bank said on Tuesday. This indicates a 0.56 percent increase from July, 2009.
Egypt’s producer price index rose 10.36 percent in the 12 months to July, figures on the website of the state statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Friday. The government started the new index in October 2007, replacing the old wholesale price index. The July figure is preliminary.
