Good afternoon, friends. The news cycle has kept easing us into the last days before the much-anticipated long weekend.

THE BIG STORY TODAY-

TMG’s North Coast debut breaks records: Talaat Moustafa Group Holding’s (TMG) North Coast project — dubbed SouthMed — garnered reservations worth EGP 200 bn (USD 4.2 bn) in the six working days since its launch, according to an EGX disclosure (pdf). This made TMG “the fastest and top selling company of a single project launch in the MENA region.” TMG kicked off reservations for SouthMed last week, with the project garnering EGP 60 bn (c. USD 1.3 bn) in reservations in the first 12 hours post-launch. The 23 mn sqm project is slated to see investments to the tune of EGP 1 tn.

The bigger picture: The real estate developer raked in EGP 340 bn in total sales across its developments since the beginning of the year, more than seven times the figure achieved during the same period last year.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

It’s a slow day in international business news ahead of Chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell’s twice-yearly report to Congress, expected to indicate whether Fed rate cuts are in the offing this year.

In the meantime, the global business press has been digesting the surprise victory of the French leftist New Popular Front (NFP) bloc in the country’s recent parliamentary elections, which may signal the end of the business-friendly climate cultivated by outgoing president Emmanuel Macron. France now finds itself staring down the barrel of fiscal deficit amid political gridlock between groups deeply divided on taxes and government spending. If a center-left government does manage to coalesce over the next few weeks, some worry that a costly leftwing economic package could weigh on public finances, driving up government borrowing costs as well as interest rates for business. (Financial Times | Bloomberg | NYT)

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

  • Laying out the new government’s policy priorities: Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly delivered his new government’s policy statement to the House of Representatives yesterday and take MPs through the government’s priorities.
  • Egypt's current account deficit has widened by 225% y-o-y to USD 17.1 bn in the first nine months of FY 2023-24, up from USD 5.3 bn in the same period in the last fiscal year.
  • Electra to own 20% of Elsewedy Electric: Elsewedy Electric shareholders have putsell orders of a total of 427.7 mn shares — around 20% of the company — to Abu Dhabi-based electrical equipment manufacturer Electra Investment Holding in response to the latter’s offer, whose validity ended yesterday.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Mercury is peaking with a high of 39°C and dropping to a low of 29°C in Cairo at night, according to our favorite weather app. Alexandria and Sahel are quite a bit cooler with a high of 33°C and a low of 24°C at night.

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