Egypt to float stake of Banque du Caire on EGX by end of 2019

CAIRO – 15 April 2019: Egypt plans to offer a stake of Banque du Caire on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) by the end of this year, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Tarek Amer told Bloomberg.

Amer clarified that the to-be-floated stake will be 20 percent and might go up to 30 percent of the bank.

“It’s not about money,” Amer said. “We have a plan to support the stock exchange with new issues. There is a lot of demand.”

Banque du Caire is one of the largest public banks in Egypt and is wholly owned by Banque Misr, Egypt's second largest bank.

Earlier this week, the bank decided to change its logo under its development plan. It accomplished profits of LE 2.5 billion after taxes during 2018, with growth exceeding 200 percent.

By the end of February, Egypt floated a stake of Eastern Company on EGX, and the public and private offerings on the course were completed Wednesday, March 6, with a total value of LE 1.72 billion.

Meanwhile, Minister of Petroleum Tarek el-Molla told local media earlier that Egypt is expected to float a stake of Oil Company Engineering for Petroleum and Process Industries (ENPPI) on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) in the first half of 2019, or before the Holy month of Ramadan.

In 2018, Egypt delayed listing shares of state-owned companies on the Egyptian Exchange, such as the 4.5 percent stake of Eastern Company slated for October. The government attributed the delay to volatility in the global market, noting that if the shares had been floated, they would have failed to be covered at proper valuation.

In 2016, Egypt announced the launch of the government’s IPO program offering shares over three to five years in several state-owned companies in fields such as petroleum, services, chemicals and real estate.

As part of the economic reform program, the government targets offering 15-30 percent of stakes in state-owned companies on the stock exchange (EGX) to increase funding to Egyptian companies, maximize the benefit from state assets, and attract local and foreign capital flows to Egypt.