Orascom Telecom and France Telecom have acquired Motorola’s 35.3 percent stake in the MobiNiL Telecommunication Consortium. OCI announced the distribution of a 1:4 stock dividend starting January 18. Lakah Group distributed coupon #4 of LE55.45 per bond starting January 1. SAIB Third Fund managed by Prime Investments announced distribution of a cash dividend of LE2.75 per certificate for 4Q FY2000 starting January 2. EBB distributed coupon #16 on December 31 covering the period from September 26 to December 26, 2000.
Trading in the New Year got off to a slow start last week, with some major stocks losing ground. New hopes for the New Year were shattered following France Telecom’s partial acquisition of Motorola's stake in the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services – MobiNiL (EMOB.CA) at market price with no premium, resulting in the stock retreating 3.39 percent to LE71.44. Orascom Telecom –OT (ORTE.CA/ORTEq.L) declined 4.91 percent to LE48.01 despite news of acquiring stakes in MobiNil, Fastlink (Jordan), and Mobilink Pakistan. Such news was not enough to boost the stock as investors raced to liquidate their positions before the lock-up period for pre-IPO investors expires on January 13. Other large-caps like CIB (COMI.CA) inched down 0.06 percent.
Meanwhile, entertainment giant Egyptian Media Production City (MPRC. CA) advanced 8.15 percent to LE20.71, grabbing second position for top companies in terms of volume traded. Ranking first was Lakah Group (HCFI.CA) with more than 6.5 million shares changing hands.
Bucking the downward trend was the construction sector as whispers of parliamentary discussions of mortgage law continue to abound. Al Shams Housing & Development (ELSH.CA) realized the highest weekly gain, surging 19.43 percent to end the week at LE4.18. Overall, the PAMI inched up a mere 0.79 percent to finish the week at 7,762.7.
Prime Securities S.A.E.
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
