Egypt's net foreign liabilities widened in March by about USD1.47 billion, to exceed USD24.46 billion, compared to about USD23 billion in February 2023.

Prime Minister held talks yesterday with the CEO of Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ to discuss the fund acquiring more assets in Egypt.

Finance Minister met with his Qatari counterpart to discuss boosting investment inflows from Qatar as well as cooperation on tax, customs, and in the financial sector.

CBE intends to sell USD1 billion of one-year USD-denominated treasury bills in an auction today.

The Japanese International Corporation Agency will lend JPY100 billion to Egypt to finance the construction of Cairo Metro Line 4.

S&P Global Ratings has cut its outlook on the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, and COMI to negative, mirroring outlook on Egypt’s sovereign credit rating announced last week.

The government has set November as the date for the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum.

We updated our FVs for ESRS and IRAX at EGP54.60/share and EGP1,357.50/share, maintaining our Overweight recommendation for both stocks. The updated FVs factor in:

1. Weakening local demand for rebars and flat steel adversely affected by high interest rate environment and high inflation rates.
2. Further currency devaluation promoting ESRS’s competitiveness in global markets.
3. Healthy local pricing of final steel products currently trading near EGP40,000/ton.
4. Stable natural gas prices, yet an elevated electricity tariff starting 2025 with an annual increase of 20%.

ESRS decided to maintain rebar ex-factory price at EGP32,135/ton for May, according to local media.

ABUK  3Q22/23 net profit reached EGP5,724 million (+28% QoQ, +52% YoY), bringing 9M22/23 net profit to EGP12,959 million (+86% YoY).

MFPC approved dividends distributions for 2022 of EGP15.00/share. Record date is 9 May 2023 and distribution date is 14 May 2023.

8% of shareholders of PACH approved National Paints’ acquisition offer EGP39.80/share.

Urea free market prices in Egypt increased to average EGP14,000/ton compared to EGP11,500/ton in April 2023. 

AMIC released its March 2023 report showing PC sales of 4,638 units, a drop of 76% YoY and a rise of 9% MoM. AUTO’s market share reached 20.2% in March 2023, compared to a 16.5% in March 2022 and 25.1% in February 2023.

SUGR 1Q23 net profit reached EGP418 mn (+331% YoY, +263% QoQ).

Weekly Commodities Update

 |   | Last Price | WoW Change, %
| Brent, USD/bbl | 79.5 | -2.6%
| Diesel-HSFO Spread, USD/ton | 254.7 | -10.0%
| Egypt Urea, USD/ton | 362.5 | 4.3%
| Polyethylene, USD/ton | 1,090.0 | 0.0%
| Polypropylene, USD/ton | 1,007.5 | 0.0%
| Steel/Iron Ore Spreads, USD/ton | 443.2 | -3.0%
| LME Aluminum Cash Price, USD/ton | 2,368.0 | -0.7%
| LME Copper Cash Price, USD/ton | 8,577.0 | -2.3%
| Egyptian Retail Cement, EGP/ton | 1,890.0 | 0.0%
| Steam Coal FOB Newcastle Australia, USD/ton | 189.7 | -0.3%
| SMP, USD/MT | 2,776.0 | 8.0%