| Egypt's Bill of Imported Consumer Durables Rises 11% in 7 Months The value of consumer durables imported by Egypt increased by 11.3 percent from January-July 2018 to reach around $3.1 billion, compared with $1.9 billion in the same period last year, according to a foreign trade bulletin issued by the state's statistics body. The country's imports of consumer goods increased in July 2018 to reach $542.5 million, up from $355.3 million in July last year, according to the report that was prepared by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). Data for the seven-month period showed that imports of vehicles rose by 68 percent, TVs (109.4 percent), mobile phones (113.9 percent) and furniture (1.4 percent). Meanwhile, imports of washing machines and refrigerators during the same period declined by 16.3 percent and 2.7 percent respectively. Earlier this month, the central bank announced that Egypt's current account deficit for the 2017/2018 fiscal year that ended in June dropped by 58.6 percent to $6 billion. CAPMAS also said that Egypt's trade deficit surged to $4.1 billion in July compared with $3.7 billion last year, an increase of 8.4 percent. | | Special Fund to be Created to Encourage Egyptian Investments in Africa An Investment Risk Insurance Fund will be created as an incentive to encourage Egyptian companies to invest in fellow African countries, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr told the parliament on Monday. Nasr said that her ministry has collected data and research, based on countries that invested in Africa, on the challenges and benefits of investing in the continent. Egypt will hold the "Africa 2018 Forum" in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh from December 8-9, where it will be looking to provide a platform for African heads of states and governments as well as the African private sector and business leaders to discuss the latest on the continent's economy. | | Oil & Gas  AMOC Attributes Lower Profits to Egypt's Gas Self-Sufficiency State-owned Alexandria Mineral Oils Company (AMOC) has attributed its lower profits in the first quarter of this fiscal year to Egypt achieving gas self-sufficiency, which led to a decline in the government's demand for its products. AMOC said it now sells less fuel oil, known as mazut, to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), which prompted the company to export its products instead. This has proven less profitable than selling the fuel oil to EGPC. State-owned AMOC also attributed its decrease in profits to the extra costs of mixing the exported mazut with diesel to improve its quality. On Sunday, AMOC said its profits fell during the first three months of the 2018/2019 fiscal year, from July to September, to EGP 253.1 ($14.1) million, down from EGP 402.6 ($22.5) million in the same period last year. However, the company's sales increased during this period to register EGP 4.1 billion ($228.9 million), up from EGP 3.5 billion ($195.4 million) in the first quarter of the 2017/2018 fiscal year. Egypt has recently announced that it will halt its natural gas imports after receiving a last shipment in September, given that its natural gas production has increased by 10 percent to reach 6.6 billion cubic feet per day. | | Egypt to Complete Jordan Gas Network Expansion in a Year: Minister Two Egyptian companies will complete the expansion of a pipeline that will export gas from Egypt to Jordan in a year's time, marking another significant stride for the North African country to become a regional power hub. Egypt's Enppi and Petrojet companies have so far completed 60 percent of the expansion process, state news agency MENA quoted Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla as saying on Monday. El-Molla, who is currently in Jordanian capital Amman, signed on Sunday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Jordan to bolster cooperation and exchange knowledge in the gas and renewable energy fields. The MoU terms include sending Egyptian experts to train Jordanians in the field of oil and gas exploration. Egypt's goal of becoming a regional energy hub was materialized following the 2015 discovery of giant gas field Zohr in the Mediterranean. The field holds an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas. | | Stock Market Egypt Stocks Rebound, Gain $128 Mn After Buying Spree Indices of the Egyptian Exchange closed Monday's trading in the green, backed by an abatement of volatility in emerging markets. Monday's session saw strong buying by mutual funds, as well as foreign and Arab institutions. Meanwhile, local investors were net sellers at the session close. The market added about EGP 2.3 billion (around $128 million) in capitalization, while the benchmark index rose by 0.9% to close at 13646.26 points. Consequently, the market reversed a slump seen a day earlier when shares were hurt by the postponement of the government's IPOs program for state-owned companies. The program, which includes more than 20 companies, was due to kick off with the sale of a 4.5% stake in cigarette producer Eastern Company this month. "The delay was expected. What would push the government to offer now? The balance was difficult and this is not the appropriate time for the offerings," Radwa El-Swaify, head of research at Pharos Securities Brokerage, told Reuters. | | Egypt Records Highest Volume of Industrial Investments at $3.1 Bn The volume of industrial investments in Egypt recorded its highest rate to reach EGP 55 (about $3.1) billion during the 2017/2018 fiscal year, with the private sector representing 89 percent of the total investments and the public sector accounting for the rest, an Egyptian official said. "Egypt has been progressing well, according to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) recent outlook as it predicted a rise in the Egyptian market's growth rate by 5.5 percent during the current fiscal year and expects it to jump to 6 percent," said Nermine Abulata, technical assistant to the trade minister. "This is also in addition to an improvement in the inflation rate, as IMF reported that it will drop from 30 percent to 15 percent during 2018, expecting it to decline to 11 percent during 2019." Abulata's remarks came on the sidelines of Cairo Investment Expo, which was held on Monday. | | Arab Contractors, El-Sewedy Electric Awarded Tender to Build Power Plant in Tanzania A consortium comprising Arab Contractors Co. and El-Sewedy Electric Co. won a tender for the construction and design of a hydroelectric power plant and a dam in Tanzania. The consortium submitted a bid in a global tender for the 2115-megawatt power plant that will be located in Stiegler's Gorge along Rufiji River, El-Sewedy said. "The final value of the project has not been defined yet," the company added. Chairman of Arab Contractors Mohsen Salah said that there was a fierce competition for the tender as several bids were submitted by Turkish, Chinese, Indian and European companies. "African leaders were impressed by the Egyptian example … The contracts of the project will be signed within a month in the presence of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi," he added. El-Sisi was invited to attend the laying of foundation stone ceremony of the Stiegler Gorge dam in Tanzania. The project is the latest in El-Sewedy's attempts to make forays into Africa. In August, the cable and home appliance producer said that its subsidiary, El Sewedy Electric for Transmission, signed two contracts to build electric grids in Mauritania at a combined value of $19.8 million. | | NVGroup Seeks to Raise Exports to $6 Mn by Year-End Egypt's Nile Valley Group (NVGroup) aims to raise its exports to $6 million by the end of 2018 and to $12 million by the end of next year through increasing its market expansion in the East Asia region. "The company aims to expand in Indonesia, China and Bangladesh," Chairman of NVGroup Mohamed El Abagy told reporters on Monday, adding that NVGroup also plans to increase its exports to $22 million over the next five years. "NVGroup currently exports its crops to 25 countries; most of them are Southeast Asian countries as 60 percent of the company's production is directed to this region, in addition to Bangladesh -- which comprises 20 percent of the production. The group also exports 50 containers worth $750,000 to China." The chairman went on to list further countries that the company exports its goods to, including Arab Gulf countries which account for about 25 percent of NVGroup's production, mainly the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. "We also export goods to Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Sri Lanka among other countries, but in limited quantities," El Abagy added. NVGroup is mainly specialized in cultivating citrus crops such as orange, lemon and mandarin. | | Beheira's Logistics City Aims to Attract Nearly $450 Mn The logistics city in the northern province of Beheira is expected to attract between EGP 7 billion to EGP 8 billion in investments, head of the Internal Trade Development Authority (ITDA) said, describing the city as the largest project carried out by the authority in 2018. "70 acres of land are allocated for Al Orouba Misr for Urban Development, Carrefour Egypt by Majid Al Futtaim Group and Egypt Kuwait Holding," Ibrahim Ashmawy told a news conference on Monday. "The new city contributes to the localization of about 10 new businesses. The Beheira governor vowed to provide more land to further develop logistics and commercial zones and provide up to nearly 40,000 jobs in the coming years." During the conference, Ashmawy said the internal trade sector contributes to about 17-18 percent of the country's GDP, adding that the figure is expected to reach 21 percent over the next four years. | | Domty's Total Investments Reach $49 Mn in 2018: Chairman Total investments in Egypt's Arabian Food Industries Company (Domty) stand at EGP 880 (nearly $49) million via 23 production lines, with an anticipated growth of 15 percent over the next year, the company's chairman said. The company's export volume represents about 6 percent of Domty's total sales, Omar El Damaty said, highlighting that the company was able to market its products in 39 new markets in Europe, Asia and Africa. "Domty raised its production capacity from 3 million carton packs in 2008 to 1.2 billion in 2018, making it the largest cheese producer among Tetra Pak's clients in the world," he added during a celebration of the company's 10-year partnership with Tetra Pak Egypt, a food processing and packaging company. In August, Domty announced that it would produce baked goods on a single production line in its new factory, which it had already purchased following its initial public offering (IPO) in 2016, aiming to set its annual sales at more than EGP 100 ($5.6) million. | | B.Tech Targets Over $167 Mn in Sales of Ariston, Indesit Products B.Tech aims to generate sales between EGP 2 to 3 billion ($111.7 to 167.5 million) for its Ariston and Indesit products this year, up from EGP 1 billion ($55.8 million) recorded last year, the company's CEO told local media on Monday. CEO Mahmoud Khattab's comments came during a visit of representatives from Whirlpool Corporation, the parent company of the two electronic brands. Sales of the two companies' products declined in the past two years, according to Whirlpool Corporation MENA Market Director Luca Lampredi, in the wake of a devaluation of the Egyptian pound in 2016, which led to an increase in the prices of all imported goods. Sales, however, have picked up recently with hopes of further increases the near future, Lampredi added. | The Red Sea resort of El Gouna Real Estate Report Values Orascom Development's Gouna Assets at $2.1 Bn Orascom Development Holding (ODH) said that a new report valued its land banks and 17 hotels at the Red Sea resort of El Gouna at $2.1 billion, 42 times its current book value. The report, conducted by international property valuators CBRE Group, valued the 22.9 million square meters of undeveloped lands of ODH's El Gouna at an aggregate market value of $1.82 billion, 170 times its current book value which stands at $10.7 million, according to a company statement. CBRE also valued ODH's 17 hotels in El Gouna at $303.6 million, compared to their book value of $39.3 million, 87 percent below the estimated market value. ODH owns a total of 33 hotels across eight places with 7,113 rooms and 66.3 million of undeveloped land bank, all of which are booked at cost. The company's CEO Khaled Bichara was quoted in the statement as saying that ODH's assets are "not adequately reflected in its stock price." "The 17 hotels in El Gouna alone plus the remaining land would make up more than 4.1 times the current market capitalization, using CBRE's market value," he added. | | TIME Hotels Plans to Manage 14 Hotels in Egypt, KSA, UAE UAE-based hospitality firm TIME Hotels said it will sign 14 contracts to manage hotels in the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia until 2020, with one hotel scheduled for inauguration next December, the company's CEO said on Monday. The company will inaugurate Time Nozha Beach Hotel in Ras Sudr in Egypt's Red Sea coast in December, which will comprise 52 rooms, four suites and 14 chalets, Mohamed Awadalla told Mubasher news website. "[TIME Hotel] is currently in talks with Egyptian companies to manage five or six hotels in the country over the coming two years … It is expected to sign three deals for managing hotels in Egypt in the next two months," he added. last Thursday, TIME Hotels signed an agreement with Nozha Beach Company for Tourism Investment to manage Nozha Beach Ras Sudr Resort, the CEO said, adding that the hospitality firm will "sign a contract to manage six hotels in the UAE; two of them are set to be opened this year." As for its investments in Saudi Arabia, the Emirati hospitality firm said it will manage two hotels, which are still under construction, in the oil-rich Kingdom. | | Foreign Direct Investment Whirlpool to Inaugurate Electrical Appliances Factory in Egypt Whirlpool Corporation is set to inaugurate a new factory in Egypt for manufacturing electrical appliances while planning to release its own brand -- "Kitchen Aid" -- in the country next year. "The establishment of the factory will be via a tripartite cooperation between Whirlpool Corporation and another manufacturer in Egypt as well as B.Tech -- which originally handles the marketing of Whirlpool's products," B.Tech's CEO Mahmoud Khattab told a news conference on Monday. "The financing of the establishment comes from Whirlpool Corporation and another chunk comes from other banks." The factory has begun its primary trials by manufacturing Ariston products, he added. | Minister of Immigration Nabila Makram Registry of Egyptians Abroad Not Meant to Impose Tax: Minister Minister of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates' Affairs Nabila Makram said Monday that a plan to create database for all Egyptians working abroad is not meant to collect extra taxes from them. "There is no intention whatsoever to collect a tax from Egyptian expatriates," Makram stressed, adding that the database aims at integrating the country's foreign-based nationals in Egypt's 2030 vision. The 2030 vision is intended to bolster the Egyptian economy's competitiveness by measures such as lowering the country's debts and creating more jobs. Around 10 million Egyptians are currently living abroad. | | Finance Ministry to Disburse $27.9 Mn for Takaful and Karama Before Year-End The social solidarity ministry asked the finance ministry to disburse an additional EGP 500 million ($27.9 million) from the allocations of the Takaful and Karama (Solidarity and Dignity) cash subsidy program so as to increase the number of beneficiaries, sources told El-Borsa newspaper. The finance ministry approved the disbursement that will likely be made before the end of this year, the sources added. Earlier this month, Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Waly told the newspaper that 180,000 new families were added to the list of Takaful and Karama beneficiaries. The program currently supports 2.250 million families (1.9 million families for Takaful and 300,000 for Karama). The cost of the program since its inception in 2015 is estimated at around EGP 21 billion ($1.17 billion), of which 85 percent is financed from the state budget and the remaining 15 percent is bankrolled by the World Bank. In early September, Waly said the World Bank offered Egypt a $500 million loan to support Takaful and Karama. | | Visitors Celebrate Sun Festival at Abu Simbel Temple Tourists gathered on Monday at sunrise at the Abu Simbel Temple in Aswan to commemorate the Sun Festival, where the sun directly hits the sculpture of King Ramses II in a phenomenon that occurs twice a year, representing the pharaonic king's birthday and coronation. Around 2,000 visitors were present at the temple, including Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Anany, 26 foreign ambassadors and cultural advisors and heads of 16 foreign and Arab antiquities institutes. Sunlight, which hits the statue annually on February 22 and October 22, also illuminates parts of the inner walls. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the disassembling and reassembling -- piece by piece -- of the temple to a different location to save it from the Nile River's rising water. | | Stock Market Stay Away from These 20 US Stocks, Warns Goldman Sach Goldman Sachs has warned against buying stocks of 20 US companies, labeling such transactions a high risk should the trade war between the US and China draw out. The American multinational investment bank also cited the rising Federal Reserve interest rates, saying a stronger dollar should make investors warier, according to Business Insider. In the latest escalation against China, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he mulls withdrawing the US from the Universal Postal Union, which enables Chinese producers to ship goods to the US at low rates. Federal Reserve is also expected to be hiked for the fourth time this year, strengthening the dollar and making it more costly for US companies to transfer overseas profits home. Here is a list of the stocks Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) Wynn Resorts (WYNN) Qualcomm (QCOM) Broadcom (AVGO) Qorvo (QRVO) Micron Technology (MU) Texas Instruments (TXN) IPG Photonics (IPGP) Western Digital (WDC) A.O.Smith (AOS) Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Microchip Technology (MCHP) Amphenol (APH) Aptiv (APTV) Xilinx (XLNX) Intel (INTC) Corning (GLW) Agilent Technologies (A) Avery Dennison (AVY) Apple (AAPL) | | Region Siemens Joins List of Companies Pulling Out of Saudi Investment Conference Siemens Chief Executive Joe Kaeser said Monday that he would not attend the Future Investment Initiative conference in Saudi Arabia, joining a list of multinational companies which pulled out of the conference in the wake of the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. On Friday, Saudi Arabia said Khashoggi, who visited the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago to obtain paperwork, died in a fight in the consulate, despite previously denying any knowledge of his whereabouts. "Siemens is a reliable and committed partner of The Kingdom and its VISION 2030. But for now, truth needs to be found out and justice applied," Kaeser said in a statement. Other companies pulling of the self-advertised "Davos in the Desert" conference, scheduled to start this week, include JPMorgan's CEO Jamie Dimon, HSBC's CEO John Flint, Blackrock's CEO Larry Fink and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin also said he won't attend in the conference, backtracking on a previous announcement. The Financial Times, Bloomberg, CNN and CNBC have withdrawn as media sponsors. | | Banque Du Caire Says Provided $162 Mn So Far for SMEs Initiative Banque Du Caire has already provided nearly 70 percent of its share of funding in the Central Bank of Egypt's (CBE) initiative to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with about EGP 2.9 billion ($162 million), the bank's vice chairman said. "Banque Du Caire ranks third among banks taking part in the CBE's initiative," Hazem Hegazy told Mubasher news website on Monday, noting that the state bank's total investments in SMEs stand at EGP 4 billion ($223.4 million) year-to-date. Hegazy earlier told reporters that the state bank is seeking to boost its SME portfolio to EGP 30 billion in 2022. Launched in 2016, SMEs financing initiative aims to support businesses by easing lending rules and credit facilities. Under the initiative, 20 percent of bank loans should be allocated to SMEs within four years. | Ahly beat Setif 2-0 in the first leg in Cairo Ahly Eyeing Second Straight Appearance in African Champions League Final Record eight-time winners Ahly of Egypt will be eyeing a second straight appearance in the African Champions League final when they meet Algeria's ES Setif away from home in the second leg of the semi-final on Tuesday. The Red Devils are overwhelming favorites to advance to the final, having claimed a 2-0 home win in the first leg earlier this month. However, they need to be more clinical on the road if they are to overcome Setif after they were guilty of spurning a host of goal-scoring chances in the home encounter. "We know that we will face a tough opponent, who usually plays well at home before their fans. But Ahly still have the ability to return to Cairo with a victory," the team's French coach Patrice Carteron told the pre-match news conference. Ahly won the last of their record eight titles in 2013. They missed out on the prestigious trophy last year when they lost 2-1 on aggregate to Morocco's Wydad Casablanca in a two-legged final. | | Puma Picked as New Kit Supplier of Cairo Club Zamalek German sportswear company will become the kit supplier of Zamalek this season, the Cairo club announced. Puma will replace Spanish sportswear company Joma, which has supplied football kits for Zamalek for the past two years. Zamalek did not disclose the value or length of the new deal with Puma but said the team might wear the new kit on Saturday when they meet fellow Egyptian side Ittihad of Alexandria in an Arab Championship game. "Our new football shirt for the 2018/2019 season will be designed by Puma," Zamalek said in a brief statement on their website. | |
