428 Articles
CAIRO: Annual urban inflation in Egypt eased to 10.4 percent in July, its lowest in seven months, on the back of a slowdown in food prices which contributed to the mass protests that toppled President Hosni Mubarak earlier this year. Urban consumer price inflation, the most closely watched indicator of prices, reached its lowest level …
CAIRO: Egypt is holding seven people for questioning over the New Year’s Day bombing of a church in the northern city of Alexandria and has released 10 others, a security source said on Sunday. Another source said questioning was continuing related to the attack, which killed 21 people outside the church during a midnight service. …
CAIRO: An Egyptian lawyer said on Thursday he had filed a lawsuit demanding the government cancel the sales since 1998 of all state land not sold by auction. It is the latest challenge to state land sales since a court in June annulled the purchase by Egypt’s biggest listed developer, Talaat Moustafa (TMG), of land …
CAIRO: Egyptian group El Sewedy Cables said on Wednesday it is increasing output this year and the next on the back of growing demand for its products in Europe, the Middle Eastern and Africa. The Arab world’s biggest maker by market value of cables used in power transmission and telecoms plans to capture 2-3 percent …
CAIRO: Egypt’s influential Lawyers’ Syndicate has called on the government to freeze sales at Talaat Moustafa’s (TMG) flagship real estate project after a court ruled the land on which it is built was sold illegally. A court last week upheld a ruling that a housing ministry body broke the law by selling state land for …
CAIRO: New car sales in Egypt are set to jump to a record this year, the head of the country’s main carmaker group told Reuters on Tuesday, brightening the outlook for local vehicle assembly firms such as GB Auto. Egyptian automakers, most of which assemble foreign brands using imported parts, were hit by the global …
CAIRO: Palm Hills shares hit a seven-week low on Wednesday on news of a lawsuit challenging one of the firm’s land deals, the second such case recently, heightening worries about investing in Egyptian real estate. The Palm Hills case emerged amid a wrangle over the flagship development of Talaat Moustafa (TMG), Egypt’s biggest listed developer, …
CAIRO: Egypt, the world’s biggest wheat importer, faces a higher bill for bread subsidies in the next year but has adequate financial resources and stocks to avoid any rerun of the violent protests of 2008. Egypt raced to redo orders after drought-hit Russia halted grain exports in August, which sent wheat prices surging. Cairo had …
Egypt’s Ezz Steel said on Thursday its second-quarter net profit more than tripled and forecast that growing global demand for steel would push prices higher in the second half of 2010. Egypt’s largest steel producer said net profit was LE 136 million ($23.8 million), compared with LE 37 million in the same quarter last year, …
CAIRO: Egypt may resume wheat imports from Argentina after a hiatus of several years to help compensate for Russia’s ban on exports, Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid said on Tuesday. A severe drought has sharply reduced grain production throughout the Black Sea region and prompted Russia, the region’s top exporter, to ban grain shipments until …
CAIRO: Egypt’s El Sewedy Cables reported a 53 percent jump in second-quarter net profit on Monday after it took business from rivals weakened by the global economic slowdown. Sewedy, the Arab world’s biggest maker by market value of cables used in power transmission and telecoms, said net profit rose to LE 270.1 million ($47.4 million) …
CAIRO: Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes posted a 83.2 percent increase in first-half net profit to LE 580 million ($101.7 million) on Sunday. The firm, Egypt’s largest listed investment bank, made LE 316.5 million in the same period a year earlier. The figure implied a second-quarter net profit of LE 96.4 million based on calculations of …
CAIRO/CHICAGO: Egypt’s main government wheat buyer issued an international wheat tender on Friday amid a severe drought in the Black Sea region, which has slashed production there and sent global prices soaring this month. Wheat traders will be eagerly awaiting results of the tender, including information on origins and prices offered, to provide a glimpse …
CAIRO: BG Group’s Egyptian subsidiary said it would invest $2 billion to install a pipeline and drill new wells off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast to help meet the country’s growing demand for gas. BG Egypt, the country’s largest natural gas producer, said on Tuesday it expected the new offshore pipeline, its third in the …
CAIRO: Egypt’s main wheat buyer said on Monday Russian prices were putting pressure on French and US suppliers and the world’s biggest wheat importer was keen to seek out a wider range of origins for the grain. Egypt’s international tenders are keenly contested by major exporters such as France and the United States, …
CAIRO: Egypt’s oil minister expects its fuel subsidies bill to swell to LE 72 billion ($13 billion) in fiscal 2010/11, from LE 68 billion in 2009/10, and said on Tuesday the country aimed to restructure the program. "Subsidies in petroleum and natural gas products have grown to unsustainable levels which form a significant …
CAIRO: Egypt’s central bank kept key interest rates at a nine-month floor as expected on Thursday, signaling uncertain developments in Europe could crimp foreign investment as an economist warned inflationary pressures may rise. The overnight lending rate was left at 9.75 percent and the deposit rate stayed at 8.25 percent, at their lowest levels since …
CAIRO: Egypt’s government has shelved plans to partially privatize some public sector firms through distributing free shares to citizens, the investment minister said. Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) had proposed in November 2008 selling government minority stakes in up to 150 state-run firms in a move it claimed would make privatization more …
CAIRO: Egypt’s annual urban inflation rate, the most closely watched price indicator, fell to 10.5 percent in May, its lowest level since August and giving the central bank more latitude to keep key interest rates steady. Core annual inflation rose to 6.69 percent in the year to May from 6.62 percent in April, the central …
CAIRO: Egyptian mobile group Orascom Telecom said on Tuesday the Algerian government had agreed to start talks for the sale of Orascom’s Algerian unit Djezzy, its main cash earner. "We have received response they are willing to start negotiations. At this point, we are waiting for them to call us for the talks," Orascom spokeswoman …
CAIRO: Egyptian group El Sewedy Cables expects second-quarter net profit to grow 32 percent year-on-year, mainly boosted by sales to European markets, its chief executive said on Wednesday. "We expect second-quarter net profit to be within the range of first quarter growth," Ahmed El Sewedy told a conference call, adding he expected net profit to …
CAIRO: Egypt’s GB Auto reported on Tuesday a leap in first-quarter net income, as sales extended a rebound from a slump in late 2008 and company the expanded into Iraq. The firm, Egypt’s biggest listed automobile assembler, said net income jumped to LE 68.7 million ($12.3 million) from LE 7.2 million in the same period …
CAIRO: Egypt’s gross domestic product grew at an annualized 5.8 percent in the three months to end-March, driven by a rise in the manufacturing, tourism and Suez Canal sectors, cabinet spokesman Magdy Rady said on Monday. Growth was 5.1 percent in the previous quarter. The global downturn has curbed tourism in the Arab world’s most …
CAIRO: Egypt plans to build an oil refinery with Chinese investment worth $2 billion to supply the domestic market as well as export to China, the state news agency MENA reported on Sunday. The refinery will be Egypt’s largest, with output capacity of 15 million tons per year, it said. A further 15 million ton …
SHARM EL SHEIKH: Swiss-based Orascom Development Holding plans to start a budget housing project in Iraq after elections, part of its wider push into low-income homes, its CEO said on Tuesday. The developer, known for building high-end resorts, also aims to start selling homes in a budget project in Romania by the end of the …
CAIRO: Egypt s El Sewedy Cables expects net profit to rise 25 percent in 2010 as its loss-making activities recover and sales pick up, it said on Thursday. Net profit is seen climbing to around LE 800 million ($145 million) in 2010, Sewedy executives said in a conference call. All investments that were losing in …
AIN SOKHNA: Egypt s El Sewedy Cables is looking into supplying wind energy projects in Egypt, the Middle East and African markets to tap growing demand and suitable climates, its investor relations director said on Tuesday. Research shows that the world market for wind turbine installations was worth about ?45 billion ($61.5 billion) in …
CAIRO: Egyptian vehicle maker GB Auto expects to double profits in 2010 and plans to start exporting buses and trailers to Middle Eastern and African markets from the second quarter, executives said on Monday. The automotive sector in Egypt, the Arab world s most populous country, was hit last year by the downturn but demand …
SHARM EL-SHEIKH: Egypt, the world s top wheat importer, said on Monday it was evaluating three options for growing wheat in Uganda in a bid to safeguard its supply of the staple. The most populous Arab country had said it wanted to set up farms in Nile Basin countries in order to protect its water …
CAIRO: Egypt s economy, buoyed by climbing exports, should grow by 5.5 percent in fiscal 2010/11 and attract $10 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) as it recovers from the global economic crisis, a minister said. The growth forecast matches the consensus of 15 independent economists polled by Reuters last month and is stronger than …