Concrete, GTEX off to a good start on the EGX:Our friends at Concrete Fashion Group for Commercial and Industrial Investment and spin off subsidiary GTEX Holding closed in the green with double digit share price jumps yesterday, following their EGX debuts a day earlier after the demerger of Arafa Holding last week. Shares in Concrete jumped 16.7% to close at USD 0.07, while GTEX saw its shares rise 12.9% to USD 0.035, according to EGX tradingdata.

ICYMI: We spoke with newly-appointed Deputy CEO Mohamed Talaat about the demerger at Arafa Holding to find out what prompted the move and what’s next for Concrete, including its global expansion plans. You can read the full storyhere.

Ringing in the fresh start: The EGX celebrated the debuts of Concrete and GTEX with bell-ringing ceremonies, the bourse said in two separate statements (here and here).

What they said: “We are pleased to complete the demerger as this strategic step allows us to increase our focus on our core business … and grow our exports,” said Concrete Fashion Group vice chairman and CEO Alaa Arafa, according to a company statement (pdf).

Big plans ahead for GTEX: The company plans to ramp up investments in textile manufacturing as well as in UK retail, Arafa said (pdf). GTEX plans to catalyze growth in the short and medium terms by expanding into global markets through textile arm GoldenTex and its UK-based menswear unit Baird Group, said Deputy CEO Mohamed Morsy.

By the numbers: GTEX plans to invest some USD 8 mn into its expansion plans this year and a bigger sum next year, Arafa told Asharq Business (watch, runtime: 2:42).

Remember: The demerger and birth of Concrete Fashion Group aims to concentrate the group’s efforts on the fashion brand Concrete (a play on the size and rapid growth of the domestic market) and exports (reflecting Egypt’s new cost competitiveness as an international manufacturing hub after the float of the EGP), Concrete Deputy CEO Mohamed Talaat told Enterprise last week.

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