Pre-Trading Thoughts

Al Ahly Pharos

Global ratings agency Fitch revised Egypt's outlook to positive from stable.

Tourist arrivals to Egypt increased 27% YoY in the first four months of the year.

Foreign holdings of local debt have more than doubled to USD35.3 billion as of March from USD16.6 billion at the end of 2023.

Total orders issued under the government’s car-for-FX initiative have reached just under USD2 billion, according to a statement from the Immigration Ministry.

Al-Ahly Exchange Company, affiliated with the National Bank of Egypt, has attracted foreign exchange proceeds amounting to EGP12.386 billion since the liberalization of the exchange rate on 6 March 2024.

The IMF expects Egypt’s USD cash flows to rise during the current fiscal year by about USD13.7 billion to reach USD107.3 billion, up from USD93.6 billion in FY2022-23, mainly due to investments in the Ras El Hekma deal.

Egypt's petroleum trade balance turned into a deficit of USD1.1 billion during 2M2024 compared to a surplus of about USD1.73 billion in the same period last year.

The government reduced the volume of direct borrowing from the CBE last March by 24% on a monthly basis to EGP1.697 trillion.

Emirati energy company Masdar intends to expand in the fields of solar and renewable energy and green hydrogen in Egypt through Infinity Power in the Suez Canal Economic Zone and the Mediterranean Coast.

Norway’s Höegh LNG will send a floating storage and regasification unit to Ain Sokhna next month, as per an agreement it signed with state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company and Australian Industrial Energy (AIE), according to statements from the Oil Ministry and Höegh LNG.

ETEL is looking to secure USD500 million in supplier financing from an unnamed Chinese institution to restructure the company’s credit facilities and meet capital requirements, according to local press.

The FRA gave a nod to ESRS (FV: EGP97.02, OW) to proceed in its capital decrease of EGP4.55 million to reach EGP2.71 billion through canceling 910,481 shares at a par value of EGP5/share.

The Egyptian Federation for Construction and Building Contractors has signed a cooperation protocol with the Iraqi Federation of Contractors to study the partnership between Egyptian and Iraqi companies in light of plans to sign agreements with international institutions in the coming period to finance Iraqi projects, especially the Islamic Development Bank.

The CBE issued new ownership rules for banks where buyers who are going to acquire more than a 10% stake in a bank, or a stake that would otherwise grant the buyer voting rights, will have to file a request to the CBE at least 60 days ahead of finalizing the agreement.

Banque Misr’s Misr Digital Innovation (MDI) received preliminary approval from the Central Bank of Egypt to launch the country’s first digital bank.

Basata Financial Holding is also looking into setting up a digital bank. The company is reportedly in the process of studying the requirements of acquiring a digital bank license.

EBRD has greenlit a senior unsecured loan of up to USD20 million to CIEB that will be used to support Egyptian households and private MSMEs to back climate adaptation projects.

CIRA settled the final installment of its EBRD loan, worth EGP270 million. Additionally, the company aims to issue securitization bonds of around EGP500 million in the next fiscal year, representing the remaining part of the total program of EGP2.0 billion, according to local press.