The present situation in Egypt’s stock market is not encouraging for investors as it lost a massive 11.7 percent of its value in the third quarter to reach LE803.8 billion, revealed official data. And, to make matters worse, the stock market went on a losing spree yet again in October this year. In just the first 20 days of October, the markets lost another LE88 billion.
However, the falling stock market of Egypt may receive a big boost from two state-owned companies that are likely to go public in 2020.
Hasnain Malik, head of the equity strategy at Tellimer in Dubai, informed that the initial public offering or IPO of Egypt’s biggest bank Banque du Caire is expected to draw funds from outside the country. The move may infuse life into the ailing stock market of the country.
Earlier this year, Egypt remained as consensus favorite among foreign investors that was reflected in only the biggest stock CIB’s performance and not the remaining one that is less liquid. The IPO of Banque du Caire, also known as the Bank of Cairo, may provide another listed stock with adequate liquidity. It will help in drawing fresh inflows from major global emerging market funds.
Earlier Cairo based Rameda Pharmaceuticals tried to breathe life into the Egyptian IPO market with its second IPO of the year that could be termed as the largest Egyptian IPO since 2015.
In order to revive the ailing economy, the Egyptian government had also announced plans to sell stakes in state-owned enterprises three years ago. To control the dollar crunch, efforts were focused on devaluing the currency and increase the interest rates that had a devastating effect on business activity.
Now the Egyptian government is keen to raise 100 billion pounds from the sale in various sectors, including banking, oil, and finance, in a period of 3 years.