Good afternoon, folks, and happy Thursday. It’s another calm afternoon to wrap up the work week. We hope you all have a lovely last weekend of August.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

B Investments to sell a minority stake in Gourmet this year: BInvestment plans to sell a 20-30% stake in its subsidiary Gourmet before the end of the year, Asharq Business reports citing three sources it says are close to the transaction.

Who’s interested? An initial decision has been made on one of the bids by an unnamed African company, one of the sources said, adding that the due diligence is currently underway and the company’s value is expected to surpass EGP 1.5 bn.

About Gourmet: The high-quality food emporium was founded in 2006 and currently operates 19 branches as well as two read-meal production factories. B investments acquired a 40% stake in the company towards the end of 2018 at an estimated cost of EGP 65 mn.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Nvidia is still in the international press spotlight as Wall Street continues to react to the fallout from the company’s 2Q earnings. While the company’s net income saw y-o-y growth of 168.2% — amounting to US 16.6 bn — AI investor cold feet saw Nvidia’s share price driven down in after-hours trading. (Bloomberg | CNBC)

Also sharing the spotlight is US presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who now leads the vote against Republican candidate Donald Trump by 13 points. The Reuters poll shows a 3% growth in the VP’s popularity since late July, just one month ago. Harris’s traction can be attributed to the interest of more women voters and more Hispanic voters, of which Harris leads by 36%-49% against Trump. The VP will be taking part in her first unscripted interview today in a bid to widen the gap across all fronts ahead of the November election. (Reuters | CNN)

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

  • A health check on Egypt’s startup scene in 1H 2024: The first half of 2024 was a turbulent one, with exchange rate instability, the float of the EGP, and rising interest rates.
  • It’s earning’s o’clock: As we get ready to enter September, companies are continuing to churn out reports for their 2Q and 1H earnings for the year, including IDH and Orascom Construction.
  • A first in Adabiya Port: Our friends at TCI, the Egyptian terminal operator unit of AD Ports, notched a first with their recent unloading of 75k metric tons of slag from a Panamax vessel in Adabiya Port.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The mercury is peaking in Cairo tomorrow at 36°C before simmering to a low of 26°C by nightfall, according to our favorite weather app. It’s a little cooler in Sahel and Alexandria, with highs of 31-32°C and lows of 25-26°C.

Tags: