Pre-Trading Thoughts

NFL position shrank by USD808 million in July, recording USD-26.3 billion up from USD-27.1 billion in June.

Foreign nationals applying for a residence permit after arriving in Egypt will soon be required to transfer the required fees from hard currency into EGP through a local bank or exchange office.

Capital Intelligence Ratings lowered Egypt's Long-Term Foreign Currency Rating (LT FCR) and Long-Term Local Currency Rating (LT LCR) to 'B' from 'B+'. The Outlook on Egypt's LT FCR and LT LCR has been revised to Stable from Negative.

Thales Group and ORAS (FV: EGP181.70, OW) have signed a contract with Egyptian National Railways (ENR) to upgrade the signaling and communication systems of the 125-km Cairo-Beni Suef railway line. 

EAST decided to raise its daily output once more by 15% after the previous 25% to satisfy the market's needs.

Silverstone Capital sold 11.45% (154.8 million shares) of its stake in TAQA in a deal worth EGP1.2 billion, at EGP7.84/share. The company’s current ownership in TAQA declined to 17.68% from 29.13% before the deal. Nile Energy Limited bought 101.4 million shares, or 7.5% with EGP795 million, while Sanford Investment Limited bought 53.4 million shares or 3.95% with EGP419 million.

The BoD of Delta Insurance approved increasing the company’s paid-in capital from EGP400 million to EGP500 million as well as increasing its authorized capital from EGP800 million to EGP1 billion. It is worthy to note that EKHO owns 63.22% of Delta Insurance.

The US is backing Chevron’s plans to develop Cyprus’ massive Aphrodite natural gas field — which include building a pipeline linking the field to Egypt — after Cyprus turned down the plans last week. 

Austria-based wood panels maker Kronospan plans to invest USD50 million to set up a multi-purpose wood panels factory in either Sadat City or 10 Ramadan.

The Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) has filed charges against 14 aluminum companies, accusing them of collaborating to inflate and fix the price of the metal, according to local media.

IDHC released 2Q23 financial results. Net profit recorded EGP43 million in 2Q23 (-65.6% YoY, -74.4% QoQ), implying a contracting NPM of 4% (-12.0pps YoY, -14.9pps QoQ). This decline is attributed to strong base effect of Covid-19 margins annually and high FX gains sequentially. Revenues came in at EGP957 million in 2Q23 (+4.6% YoY, +23.6% QoQ); the sequential increase is driven by a rise of 14% in test volumes and a 20% increase in average revenue per test. On semi-annual basis, net profit recorded EGP211 million in 1H23 (-52% YoY) and revenues recorded EGP1.9 billion (-4.0% YoY). 

CSAG released its preliminary financial results for FY22/23 recording a 95% YoY surge in bottom-line to EGP350.6 million. Revenues came in at EGP81.4 million in FY22/23 (+10 YoY).

ATLC closed a EGP1.74 billion securitized bond issuance. The company will use the proceeds to bolster its financial position and support future growth plans.

HELI (FV: EGP12.44, OW) raised its contract with Matrix Company to manage and operate the developed part of Merryland Park for three years from EGP17.5 million to EGP24.2 million.