A quiet quarter for MENA equities

It was a quiet first quarter for equity and equity-related issuances in MENA, with some USD 1.2 bn raised in the three months ending March 2024, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group picked up by Zawya. That’s 6% down year-on-year.

IPOs accounted for 80% of equity capital market activity, with follow-on offerings making up the rest.

Saudi transactions led the way, accounting for seven of eight capital raises (two of them on Nomu), but the UAE had the single largest. In total, the region saw IPOs worth a combined USD 931 mn in 1Q 2024, while rights issues and other follow-on offerings make up the balance of the USD 1.2 bn raised. The big three IPOs:

• Dubai parking operator Parkin — USD 428.7 mn (DFM)
• Modern Mills — USD 314 mn (Tadawul)
• Avalon Pharma — USD 130 mn (Tadawul)

The current Saudi pipeline is looking robust, with the following offerings on deck for Tadawul’s main market:

• Electronic retailer eXtra is looking to float a 30% stake UIHC, which operates its consumer finance arm under the Tasheel brand;

• PIF-backed lender Riyad Bank is considering the listing of its investment banking arm Riyad Capital;
• Hotels and resorts operator Boudl has filed to go public;

• Labor agency Smasco is in the chute;
• Water treatment company Miahona has gotten approval for an offering of 30% of its shares;
• Dr Soliman Abdul Kader Fakeeh Hospital (DSFH) has gotten regulatory approval to go public;
• Fourth Milling Company will list before the end of June;
• Singapore’s Olam Group is mulling the IPO of its Olam Agri subsidiary on Tadawul;
• Hypermarket operator Lulu is said to be eyeing a dual listing on Tadawul and ADX;
• Aster DM Healthcare looks set to spin-off its GCC assets and seek a dual listing on Tadawul and in the UAE.

Our friends at HSBC as well as Emirates NBD led the underwriting league table, the data shows.

NYSE 24/7?

Are you ready to trade New York equities around the clock? The New York Stock Exchange is polling “market participants” about their appetite for 24 / 7 stock trading. Regulators are separately looking into an application that could make the move possible.

Getting in step with the times? Or the fall of the last bastion of work-life balance in finance? “Stock exchanges have become something of a laggard in a world where other big markets, including US treasuries, major currencies, and leading stock index futures, can be traded around the clock from Monday to Friday,” writes the Financial Times.

And some brokers already simulate 24/7 weekday trading in a Rube Goldberg-type system that sees “trades either matched with their internal holdings, or conducted via a ‘dark pool’ trading venue such as Blue Ocean, where shares are often traded with Asian retail investors in their daytime,” the paper notes.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian shares are mixed in early trading this morning and futures suggest a soft opening for European markets and on Wall Street later today.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 1.7% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 3.0 bn (40.5% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 13.1% YTD.

In the green: Ibnsina Pharma (+5.8%), Oriental Weavers (+1.0%) and Eipico (+0.7%).

In the red: Telecom Egypt (-5.2%), Fawry (-3.7%) and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (-3.6%).

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

#1-Eastern Company moves forward with a capital increase of 400%: The state-owned tobacco giant will increase its capital to EGP 15 bn from EGP 3 bn, according to a bulletin on the EGX. The company will increase its issued and paid-up capital to EGP 3 bn —- representing an additional EGP 770 mn distributed into 770 mn shares.

#2-Court settles Misr Beni Suef, ASEC contractual dispute: Misr Beni Suef Cement will pay Qalaa Holdings’ subsidiary Arab Swiss Engineering Company (ASEC) EGP 260 mn after an arbitral tribunal settled a case between the two companies in favor of ASEC, Qalaa said in an EGX disclosure (pdf).