The shares of Raya Holding, a pioneer in the field of Information Technology and Telecommunications in the Middle East, will be listed on the Egyptian stock market starting May, following an IPO worth 400 million Egyptian pounds.
Promotional road shows for the IPO are scheduled to take place across the Gulf from the middle of April. Biltone Company and Securities and Investment Company (CICo), Bahrain, are lead managers to the IPO.
“This is a major step for Raya in raising its capital,” said Medhat Khalil, Chairman and CEO, Raya Holding. “By listing the shares of the company on the stock market, shareholders will be able to get better value for their investment in the short term. In addition, the move will also provide cash liquidity essential for financing our regional expansion projects.”
The IPO comes after an exceptionally successful year for Raya. During 2004, Raya recorded a profit of 29 million Egyptian pounds, against 4.9 million Egyptian pounds in 2003, a jump of 590 per cent. The revenues reached 1129 million Egyptian pounds, against 775 million Egyptian pounds in 2003, an increase of 46 per cent. The robust all-round growth drove Raya to expand its operations regionally to cover Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf as well as United States.
“The dramatic growth reflected in the huge profits demonstrates our ability to deliver the highest standards of service that have earned us the trust of our customers,” said Khalil. “Raya has successfully executed world-class projects locally and regionally, including automation projects for the Ministry of Finance & Industry in Abu Dhabi, Al Riyadh Bank, Al Salaam institutions in Qatar and e-government projects in Egypt.”
As part of its expansion plans for the region, Raya has launched a new company on the lines of Raya Distribution to provide sales and servicing of Nokia products in Algeria and opened an office in Algeria, the first full-fledged office in North Africa. The move represents its goal of establishing a new channel for Nokia products in Algeria. Raya is opening three retail outlets which will increase to five by the end of the first year of operations.
Algeria is a vibrant market for mobile phones. The number of mobile phone users jumped from 1.5 million to 5 million in just one year.
“The setting up of a new distribution company in Algeria comes after our success in delivering many projects in the Algerian market,” said Khalil. “We have studied the Algerian market closely and we believe it offers tremendous potential for Raya to expand its services.”
