Pre-Trading Thoughts

In line with our expectation, the Central Bank of Egypt left interest rates unchanged on Thursday.

Net foreign reserves reached a new high of USD46.6 billion at the end of August 2024, up from July’s record figure of USD46.5 billion.

The three-day Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, saw the government sign contracts and MoUs with Chinese companies amounting to over USD1.1 billion.

The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) issued a tender for 17 shipments of liquified natural gas for its floating import terminal at Ain Sokhna, as well as 3 more cargoes for delivery to Jordan’s Aqaba. 

The government is planning to resume gas supplies to its Idku plant as early as 4Q24.

The Electricity Ministry has put out its revised electricity price hikes for households, businesses, and the public sector. The new tariffs will see prices rise by 14-40% across the board.

Net purchases of government bills and bonds by Arabs and foreigners through the secondary market increased by about 32% WoW to USD116 million during the past week.

Should a company decide to delist voluntarily from the bourse, the value of the shares will now be determined based on the highest of the following values:

• The fair value,
• The average value of the shares over a three-month period,
• The highest closing price in the month before the company’s general assembly is invited to meet to make a decision on delisting.

SPACs will be allowed to hold temporary accounts for the purpose of conducting acquisitions. SPACs will have two years from their listing date to complete an acquisition, which can be a full buyout, a controlling stake, or an absolute majority in the target company's capital or voting rights. Failure to do so would mean that the SPAC would either reduce its capital by the value of shares listed or re-offer the same shares to qualified investors.

According to the Financial Regulatory Authority’s 2Q24 report, the value of mortgage financing more than tripled, and the value of factoring contracts, consumer financing, and SME financing witnessed noticeable growth in 2Q24.

According to local media, SUGR contracted to sell 100k tons of sugar to the Holding Company for Food Industries at a preferential price with a discount of up to 20%.