Al Ahly Pharos

Egypt will continue to rely on a flexible exchange rate regime as a first line of defense against global shocks, central bank Deputy Governor Ramy Aboul Naga said. 

Aboul Naga signaled that the central bank will cut interest rates when it’s convinced inflation won’t pick up again.

The EGP continued to weaken against the USD in trading yesterday, slipping to fresh lows and ending the day at a selling price of around EGP 51.44-51.47 at public and private banks, marking the second consecutive day of an exodus of foreign investors from the local debt market.

Egypt and France inked a strategic partnership agreement that will focus on areas including railway industry localization, technical and vocational training, AI, cybersecurity, and green hydrogen, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said in a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Thailand’s Hi-Tech Apparel began construction on its USD 20 mn sportswear factory in the Qantara West Industrial Zone. The factory will have an annual production capacity of 6 million garments, which will be exported to markets including those in the Americas and Europe. It is expected to kick off production early next year.

Energy giant Chevron will start surveying operations for the east Mediterranean seabed the upcoming summer, in preparation for the gas pipeline connecting the two countries, according to a statement from the Cypriot government.

Net foreign reserves rose to USD 47.8 bn at the end of March 2025, marking a USD 363 mn increase from February, according to data from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

Egypt's population growth dropped to historic low in 1Q 2025, coming in at 1.3%, down from 1.4% during the same period last year and 1.6% for the quarter in 2023, according to a statement from the Health Ministry.

Egypt signed nine financing agreements with the French Development Agency (AFD), totaling EUR262.3 million, as loans and grants, according to the Middle East News Agency.

Hossam Heiba, Chair of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, said that ambitious targets have been set for the coming years, including attracting USD60 billion in foreign direct investment, raising the value of exports to USD145 billion, and working to achieve a private sector contribution of up to 65% of total investments by 2030.

Foreign investors' net sales of treasuries in the secondary market amounted to approximately EGP26.34 billion, equivalent to c.USD511 million, since the beginning of this week, according to data from the Egyptian Stock Exchange.

Egypt has reached an agreement with Germany to lease the gasification vessel "Energius Power" to receive liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments for a period of five years, at USD80 million annually. The vessel's capacity is 500 million cubic feet of gas per day, and it is expected to arrive at the Sokhna port by next June.

Al Arabiya revealed new details about Egypt's negotiations with foreign oil companies regarding the proposed increase in the purchase price of natural gas. A government official explained that the purchase price will rise from approximately USD2.7 per million British thermal units to more than USD4, and more than USD8 in deep offshore concession areas.

EFID’s general assembly approved distributing cash dividends of EGP1.14/share for FY24, to be distributed on two equal installments. This implies a payout ratio of 49% and dividend yield of 4.2%

PHAR stated in an EGX release that the subscription coverage of the IPO second stage is 1.28x. The Company added that the allocation for subscribing shareholders in the second phase will be approximately 75.30%. 

HRHO is currently preparing 7 Gulf IPOs, 2 IPOs in Egypt and around 10 M&A transactions.

- Market Overview 

- Prepared by: Mohamed Othman- CETA, CFTe

The EGX30 dropped 3.3% at yesterday’s close as global equity markets react to Trump's recent decisions. Other MENA capital markets fell too on the new tariffs and oil price plunge.

The EGP fell just over 1% against the greenback in trading yesterday. The dip saw the EGP pass the 51-mark against the USD and slip to its lowest level since last year’s March float. The drop came amid global uncertainty after Trump’s tariffs came into effect over the weekend, provoking uncertainty which might have led investors to exit some high-risk markets and pull out of both local and foreign debt. 

IMF Executive Director and former Finance Minister Mohamed Maait told reporters yesterday that the global economic picture remains murky.

Egypt targets attracting new French investments worth EUR1 billion in eight main sectors, including renewable energy, CIT, medical equipment, and food industries.

The Ministry of Finance has announced plans to implement 12 projects as PPP, in the water, sanitation, and electricity sectors, with investments exceeding EGP60 billion. 

The Finance Ministry is looking into offering additional incentives and financial support to the first 50k SMEs that join the simplified tax system as first-time taxpayers, Finance Minister said.

The Finance Ministry will begin issuing retail bonds through Egypt Post at what it describes as attractive interest rates. 

The Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) is developing a new automatic pricing mechanism for pharma products that will adjust prices up or down based on fluctuations in input costs, most notably the EGP-USD exchange rate and raw material prices.

The Ministry of Finance revised its budget estimates for the current fiscal year 2024-25, reducing total expenditures to EGP3.838 trillion, compared to EGP3.87 trillion in the budget estimates. It also raised the interest bill to EGP1.914 trillion from EGP1.834 trillion, lowered its public investment forecast from EGP495.8 billion to EGP385.5 billion, and maintained the subsidy bill at EGP635.94 billion.

HELI (FV: EGP18.84, OW) reported 4Q24 net profit of EGP814.0 million, down 89.6% y/y and up 134.4% q/q, bringing FY24 net profit down 67.2% y/y to EGP2.6 billion. The Board proposed the distribution of cash dividends of EGP1.33/share, implying a payout ratio of 69.6% and dividend yield of 11.6%, and the distribution of 2:1 stock dividend.

GBCO announced that it has been assigned by Hyundai Motors to be the official distributor of its luxury brand Genesis in Egypt.

DOMT announced that it is still in the process of studying and negotiating with Arla Food to potentially exclude its bakery segment from the transaction.

HRHO's Bank NXT reported a 54% y/y increase in FY24 net income to EGP1.8 billion. 

EGX announced the controls for the subscription rights for the ATLC capital increase, stating that the opening price of the right on the first trading day would be EGP1.27 per right.

EGCH released FY25/26 budget with a net profit of EGP1.4 billion and total revenue of EGP9.5 billion, including EGP7.3 billion of export revenue. The company also released the investment budget with a total value of EGP7.1 billion.

Weekly Commodities Update

- Market Overview 

- Prepared by: Mayada Amin- CETA, CFTe

Net foreign assets in Egypt’s banking sector rose for a second month running, reaching USD10.2 billion in February, up 17.2% from January’s USD8.7 billion surplus. A narrower deficit at commercial banks helped lift the sector’s external position, with its net foreign asset deficit shrinking to USD1.9 billion in February from USD3.3 billion a month earlier.

Egypt has received a USD1.2 billion disbursement from the IMF as the fourth tranche of its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program, the Egyptian Cabinet announced.

The Egyptian government paid USD800 million in arrears to foreign oil companies by the end of March, bringing the total amount of overdue payments to oil companies to USD6.3 billion since June.

High-level Egyptian trade delegation will travel to Canada in mid-April as part of efforts to boost Canadian investment and trade with Egypt, Egyptian-Canadian Business Council head said.

Eight OPEC+ countries agreed to raise oil production more than three times originally planned, according to a statement from the group, which includes oil producing giants Saudi Arabia and Russia.

BINV’s consolidated bottom line post minority recorded EGP1.5 billion (+2.87x y/y) in FY24.

BINV’s Board approved of a cash dividend distribution of EGP1.25/share amounting to EGP272.95 million, implying a payout ratio of 28.7% and a dividend yield of 5.4% to be ratified by the AGM.

Bedaya Mortgage Finance, a subsidiary of HRHO, has closed a EGP1.6 billion securitized bond issuance.

United Bank's AGM approved the distribution of cash dividends of EGP825 million to shareholders, which is EGP0.75/share, implying a dividend yield of 5.3%, to be distributed within three months. 

According to AMIC, auto sales rose 4.3% MoM in February to 10.6k units, up slightly from 10.1k units in January. The figure marks a modest rebound from last month’s 22.0% drop. 

ABUK appointed Hany Dahy as the company's Chairman and Managing Director. 

- Market Overview 

- PHDC

- HELI

- ORAS

- FWRY 

- DSCW 

- prepared by: Mayada Amin- CETA, CFTe

Trump announced what he said were “kind” reciprocal tariffs against more than 180 countries Wednesday, along with a baseline tariff against other countries. Among the list was Egypt, at a 10% tariff charged.

Egypt's non-oil private sector entered contraction territory in March, following improvements in business conditions in January and February. The headline PMI fell from 50.1 in February to 49.2 in March, the lowest reading in three months. In tandem with lower output and new orders, purchasing activity decreased for the first time in four months. 

The European Parliament approved on Tuesday a EUR4 billion second tranche of a larger EUR7.4 billion macro-financial assistance (MFA) package for Egypt.

Net purchases of Egyptian T-bills and bonds by foreign investors in the secondary market amounted to c. EGP113.5 billion, (c. USD2.25 billion) during 1Q25.

Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk confirmed that the draft budget for FY25/26, which was approved by the Cabinet and referred to the House of Representatives, focuses on alleviating the burdens on low-income and vulnerable groups by adopting initiatives and programs to improve the standard of living, with EGP732.6 billion allocated to enhance social protection.

TMGH AGM approved the distribution of cash dividends of EGP0.25/share, implying a dividend yield of 0.5%, to be paid over two equal installments, the first by 31 May 2025 at the latest and the second by 31 July 2025 at the latest. The EGM approved a EGP29.1 million capital decrease through retiring treasury shares.

EGAL released its preliminary budget figures for FY25/26, targeting net profit after tax of EGP14.2 billion vs. EGP9.3 billion recorded in FY23/24 and an estimated figure of EGP11.7 billion in FY24/25. The budget is planned on an average exchange rate of EGP51.00/USD instead of EGP49.89/USD for FY24/25 and EGP36.23/USD for FY23/24. Proposed investments are estimated at EGP4.7 billion instead of EGP1.8 billion proposed a year ago.

CIRA has begun taking serious steps to expand in the Saudi market during the current year, with plans to launch new schools in the Kingdom. In addition, the company aims to expand into several new countries after completing its establishment in the Saudi market.

ValU is partnering with Hydroturf Egypt to offer flexible financing solutions for Club Car’s premium utility vehicles.

- Market Overview 

- ALCN

- SKPC

- FWRY 

- EGAL

- PHDC

- prepared by: Mayada Amin- CETA, CFTe

The government will announce the revamped export subsidy program within weeks, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said during his weekly presser yesterday The three-year program is expected to come into effect with the new fiscal year on 1 July.

Egypt’s interest payments on debt rose by 18.4% to EGP 939 bn in 1H FY 2024-25, according to the Finance Ministry’s Monthly Finance Report. Interest payments also made up 5.5% of GDP during the period, according to the ministry’s General Economic and Financial Outlook.

GDP growth almost doubling y-o-y in 2Q FY 2024-25, coming in at 4.3% for the three-month period, up from 2.3% during the same period last year, according to a statement from the Planning and International Cooperation Ministry. The figures mark an uptick from the slowdown seen in 2Q FY 2023-2024, which saw growth decline sharply from the 3.9% recorded a year earlier on the back of global economic headwinds and domestic challenges. The Planning Ministry is projecting GDP growth of 4.0% for FY 2024-25, supported by private sector reforms and gradual economic recovery

Cabinet approves the draft budget for the fiscal year 2025-2026. The state is targeting:

• a primary surplus of EGP 795 bn — or 4% of GDP.
• reducing the public debt to 82.9% next fiscal year
• trimming the debt-to-GDP ratio to below 92%.
• a 19% y-o-y jump in revenues to EGP 3.1 tn and a 18% y-o-y rise in expenses to EGP 4.6 tn.

Alstom’s invests EUR 80 mn in a manufacturing complex in Borg Al Arab, which will include a plant to produce electrical systems and railway components and another to produce units for the metro, monorail, high-speed train, and LRT.

The Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) is working on sector-specific tax guidelines across a number of sectors in Egypt’s economy as part of an effort to eliminate tax disputes in the future.

Chinese office supplies and stationary manufacturer Deli Group is planning to establish a USD 200 mn industrial complex in the Tenth of Ramadan City, according to an Industry Ministry statement.

HDBK Annual General Meeting (AGM) has approved the distribution of cash dividends amounting to EGP5.00 per share. The distribution date is set for April 15, and the record date is April 10.

SAUD to distribute cash dividends of EGP0.850 per share on April 16, 2025, with record date of April 13, 2025. 

The FRA approves BTFH's request to the issuance of an invitation to existing shareholders to subscribe to the remaining 424.22 million shares. 

MCQE’s general assembly approved a cash dividend distribution of EGP1.00/share for FY24, to be paid over two tranches. The first tranche will be disbursed in June, followed by the second tranche in November.

- Market Overview 

- KRDI

- SKPC

- FWRY 

- ABUK 

- AMER

- prepared by: Mayada Amin- CETA, CFTe