Pre-Trading Thoughts

*Key news articles for today*

The EGP rallied against the greenback yesterday, snapping a four-day slide as one USD changed hands for around 51.33 at both public and private banks, as a handful of foreign portfolio investors cautiously bought back into Egyptian debt. 

Tariff relief could be on its way, with the US considering easing its recently imposed 10% tariff on exports from Egypt’s Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZs) as well as on some goods subject to most-favored nation (MFN) tariffs.

Trump’s new tariffs on dozens of countries have come into effect, including 104% duties on Chinese goods, deepening his global trade war.

The Finance Ministry now sees Brent crude prices averaging USD77 per barrel from July 2025 through June 2026, down from its previous forecast of USD82 a barrel in the FY 2024-25 budget, a government source said. The government is looking to hedge against future uncertainties by renewing its annual hedging contracts with investment banks.

The current decline in prices and renewed tariff-induced inflation concerns could also prompt the government to consider temporarily postponing fuel price hikes, especially as the average selling price inches closer to the break-even point of USD57 a barrel without government subsidies.

Egypt, France — through the French Development Agency (AFD) and the EU inked nine agreements for soft loans and grants worth a combined EUR262.3 mn for infrastructure projects. The two sides also inked a number of agreements in other sectors.

Italian energy giant Eni has plans to invest around EUR24 bn over the next four years in Egypt, Libya, and Algeria to boost production, each country will get EUR8 bn in investment.

The Ministry of Transport is seeking soft loans from the French Development Agency (AFD) worth USD500 million over the next five years to cover the cost of implementing six future railway and metro projects that require imported components.

ETEL announced distributing 2024’s dividend per share of EGP1.50 on 24th April 2025. Record date is 17th April 2025.

EFIH’s general assembly approved distributing 5 bonus shares for every 10 shares originally held (1 share for every 2 shares). This brings the company’s issued capital to EGP1.733 billion, distributed over 3.467 billion shares.

GBCO’s general assembly approved cash dividends distribution of EGP0.35/share for FY24, to be paid on two tranches, one on April 30, 2025, and the second on July 17, 2025. The record date will be on April 27, 2025. This implies a payout ratio of 13.0% and a dividend yield of 1.7%.

ORWE’s general assembly approved cash dividends distribution of EGP1.60/share for FY24, implying a payout ratio of 48.5% and a dividend yield of 7.0%.

DOMT has given initial approval to a plan to split the company into two separate entities. The firm has appointed Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy as the legal advisor for the demerger process.