Retail investors pile into Banque du Caire IPO

Here are the stories driving the day both at home and abroad. Banque du Caire’s (BdC) retail book closed 27x covered this afternoon, with the IPO set to execute tomorrow. Retail investors had ordered some 9.29 bn shares by the close, against the 343.1 mn shares in the upsized public tranche, according to a bourse statement. That’s roughly EGP 49.2 bn (c. USD 921 mn) chasing EGP 1.8 bn (c. USD 34 mn) of stock at the EGP 5.30 final price, by our math, using the circular’s EGP 53.46 rate. BdC shares are expected to start trading on Monday, 2 November, subject to regulatory approvals.

ALSO- Plastics maker Alamal Alsharif took its first formal step toward an EGX listing, filing to list its shares on the exchange’s main market, according to an EGX statement. The application covers issued capital of EGP 796.3 mn, divided into roughly 8 mn shares at a nominal value of EGP 100 each.

Egypt’s investment fund industry crossed the EGP 500 bn mark in 3Q, with retail investors driving much of the growth even as institutions pulled back. Net asset value (NAV) rose 7.16% q-o-q to EGP 504.71 bn from EGP 470.97 bn, while assets under management (AUM) climbed 7.27% to EGP 512.84 bn, according to the Financial Regulatory Authority’s 3Q report. The number of outstanding fund certificates jumped 19.21% to 52.50 bn, with eight new funds bringing the total to 232.

Retail investors accounted for virtually all the growth in outstanding certificates. Individuals held 41.90 bn certificates at the end of September, up from 32.9 bn three months earlier, taking their share of the market to 79.8% from 74.7%. Institutional holdings, on the other hand, fell to 10.16 bn certificates from 10.72 bn, bringing their share down to 19.4% from 24.3%. Fund sponsors held the remaining 0.8%, or some 441.7 mn certificates, for their own accounts.

^^ We’ll have more on these stories in tomorrow’s edition of EnterpriseAM.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- We’re in for a cool, hazy day in C-Town tomorrow, with the mercury set to peak at just 29°C before dropping to an overnight low of 18°C, according to our favorite weather app.

MAKING HEADLINES ABROAD-

Leading the headlines today is Israel’s election remaining too close to call. With more than half the votes counted, Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc is leading Gadi Eisenkot’s opposing Yashar-led bloc, but neither side seems on a clear path to securing the 61 seats needed for a governing majority in the 120-seat Knesset. Netanyahu’s bloc currently holds 54 seats, while Palestinian parties are making significant gains, with a combined 17 seats so far — a record result for Arab parties. Projections point to a political deadlock.

MEANWHILE- Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro fled the country for the US after losing Sunday’s presidential election, with US President Donald Trump approving his entry and the US State Department set to issue visas for him and his family. This follows hours of speculation over Bolsonaro’s whereabouts, after he reportedly refused to comply with a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports while under investigation for alleged corruption, money laundering, and currency evasion.

IN THE BUSINESS PRESS- South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix’s shares closed 10.89% higher today after the company reported over USD 25 bn in shareholder dividends and buybacks, posting stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings. The rally comes amid surging demand for AI infrastructure and chips as well as rising memory prices.