Purchasing managers’ index basically unchanged in October: Private sector business conditions were largely unchanged in October, according to the Markit / Emirates NBD PMI gauge (pdf), which dipped to 48.6 from 48.7 in September. While the drop is effectively immaterial, it was the second consecutive dip in confidence after the confidence measure briefly broke the 50 point mark in July and August. October’s reading is the lowest in 2018.
New orders did decline, but purchasing sees rebound: The decline came in response to a further fall in new orders and output during October. But the fall in output and orders was milder than in September, while purchasing activity improved and inflation continued to ease.
The private sector is still pressured by reform: The decline in suggests that private sector activity is still weighed down by the economic reform program. One third of the companies surveyed said they are confident that output will rise and business activity will expand over the next 12 months.
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Beltone puts capital increase on ice amid fallout from suspension of investment banking arm: Beltone Financial Holding has said it will put on hold its planning EGP 1 bn capital increase, the firm said in a disclosure to the EGX (pdf) on Monday. Beltone’s decision to scrap the capital increase comes days after the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) suspended the firm’s investment banking arm for a six-month period. A senior FRA official had said the suspension was a result of “irregularities” in the Beltone-run IPO of consumer and structured finance player Sarwa Capital. Beltone shares rose nearly 2% yesterday.
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HC launches private equity arm: HC Securities & Investment launched on Monday a private equity arm that will invest in mid-cap companies across a range of industries, the company said in a press release (pdf). HC will invest its own funds and will raise outside capital from limited partners on a transaction-by-transaction basis, it said. The new PE arm will focus on “exceptional entrepreneurs and great management teams that are looking to accelerate growth in their businesses,” the statement noted. “I am delighted to announce the firm’s foray into private equity. We are hopeful in not only creating long-term value for our partners and our investors but also supporting the Central Bank of Egypt’s initiative to back thriving medium sized Egyptian companies,” said HC founder, chairman, and managing director Hussein Choucri.
The new firm will be headed by Wall Street veteran Ahmed Dessouky (LinkedIn), a seven-year veteran of Deutsche Bank who crossed over to private equity with Lone Star and Silverpeak Partners in the United States. Dessouky worked on project finance and then investment banking at Deutsche.
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Matouk Bassiouny expands to the UAE: Law firm Matouk Bassiouny has officially opened up shop in Dubaiunder the banner Matouk, Bassiouny & Ibrahim, according to a press release picked up by Zawya. The firm brought onboard Ahmed Ibrahim, “one of the UAE’s top corporate and ECM lawyers,” as a name partner, the release said, and will focus on equity capital market transactions on both the ADX and the DFM “in addition to supporting clients with an array of commercial services including negotiations, shareholder and share purchase agreements, corporate governance, and acquisitions.”
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Orascom Construction (OC) added USD 520 mn in new awards to its 3Q2018 backlog, the company said in a statement on Monday (pdf). Consolidated backlog as of 30 September 2018 stood at USD 4.1 bn. Egypt accounted for approximately 60% of new awards, which were mainly across the infrastructure and wastewater treatment sectors. US sales delivered 40% of new awards, with OC signing new projects across the private-sector commercial and light industrial sectors. BESIX, OC’s Belgium-based subsidiary, added approximately EUR 380 mn of new projects in 3Q2018, bringing its total new awards to EUR 1.9 bn and backlog to EUR 3.2 bn, the company noted.
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Israel may struggle to deliver gas to Egypt in contracted volume. Israel’s domestic pipeline network reportedly does not have the capacity to carry all the natural gas the Tamar and Leviathan partners have contracted to sell to Egypt, according to a report by israel’s TheMarker, picked up by Haaretz. Neither the Tamar nor Leviathan fields have been connected to the domestic network. The report comes after Tamar and Leviathan partners Delek Group and Noble Energy bought in September a 39% stake in the East Mediterranean Gas (EMG) pipeline with Egyptian partner East Gas. The parties aim to sell Tamar and Leviathan gas to Egypt through EMG.
INGL capacity problems: In the meantime, deliveries of gas to Egypt must use the pipeline belonging to national gas network operator Israel Natural Gas Lines (INGL), which is currently capable of carrying between 2-3 bcm of gas annually, sources close to the matter said. Noble and Delek, however, have committed to selling around 7 bcm of gas annually from both fields as early as next year to Alaa Arafa’s Dolphinus Holdings in an agreement signed in February. So far, the INGL pipeline has enough capacity to move gas from the Tamar field and will begin deliveries to Dolphinus in 1H2019. However, it will have to stop exports once Leviathan comes online, unless a solution to the capacity problem is found.
Delek and Noble say not to worry, they’re working on it and they have “no doubt that the Dolphinus agreements will be fully implemented and that gas will be delivered to Egypt as it is supposed to.”
Options on the table: One option suggested by Haaretz is to send some gas through another length of the INGL network to the Pan-Arab pipeline, which connects to EMG. Other options include widening the existing INGL pipeline, build a second parallel pipeline, or build an undersea pipeline.
Is it possible that we will rely on Israeli gas by 2030? While gas discoveries including Zohr have paved the way for Egypt to both meet its domestic needs and turn into a regional export hub, some analysts suggest Egypt could become reliant on gas from Israel by 2030. Production from the existing Egyptian fields could fall off sharply starting in 2020, according to an assessment of Egypt’s gas reserves and infrastructure conducted by McKinsey & Co and picked up by Israeli newspaper Globe. The company found that gas from Zohr will compensate for declining production in maturing in the early years, but afterwards, this will also be insufficient. “In 2030, total production from Egyptian fields will fall below 50 bcm a year, compared with more than 60 bcm at present,” making shortages a very real possibility for Egypt.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Energy Ministry announced on Sunday that it will tender off 19 new offshore blocks to oil and gas companies, according to Reuters. It will publish details of the tender by the end of the month and select the winning companies in six month’s time, said Udi Adiri, the ministry’s director general. This is Israel’s second attempt to open the blocks up after a tender last year failed to stoke the appetite of international oil and gas companies. Some analysts are seeing that the gas export agreement with Egypt may help make this second tender attractive.
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The Oil Ministry is in talks with Spanish-Italian JV Union Fenosa Gas (UGS) to reduce a USD 2 bn settlement it has been ordered to pay over gas supply interruptions at the Damietta liquefaction plant, an unnamed ministry source said, according to Al Shorouk. According to the source, the ministry is also expected to resume gas shipments to the plant “in small quantities” in 2H2019 as part of the settlement agreement, which the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ordered in September. The ministry had said that Egypt is taking steps to settle the amount, without disclosing details on what the steps entail. UGS had filed the case against Egypt some years ago, complaining that the government had cut off flows to its Damietta liquefaction plant, of which it owns 80%. Settling the dispute could expedite the resumption of LNG exports and help put Egypt on the map as a regional energy export hub. Naturgy and Eni are also in “advanced talks” to re-launch operations at the Damietta facility, Eni CFO Massimo Mondazzi said last month.
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Egypt’s net foreign reserves rose marginally to USD 44.501 bn at the end of October, up from USD 44.459 bn a month earlier, the central bank said on Monday.
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M&A WATCH- Helwan Cement EGM signs off its white plant sale: The extraordinary general assembly of the Helwan Cement has signed off an agreement to sell its white cement plant to Emaar Industries, parent company Suez Cement said in a disclosure to the EGX on Monday (pdf)on Monday. Helwan Cement will split off the company owning the plant, which will then be sold off to Emaar. The transaction was announced in September.
Advisers: Suez Cement was advised by EFG Hermes (financial advisor) and Zulficar and Partners (legal counsel).
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LEGISLATION WATCH- Gov’t to introduce proposed E-commerce Act to the House on 15 November: The government will introduce its proposed E-commerce Act to the House of Representatives on 15 November when the House CIT Committee starts hearings, committee chair Rep. Ahmed Badawi told Amwal Al Ghad.
Background: Local press had noted that the law was primarily concerned with establishing a tax framework for the industry. Government sources had told us back in June that the Finance Ministry was looking to impose a VAT on e-commerce.
Major players feel left out: Jumia CEO Hisham Safwat complained to the newspaper that the private sector was not consulted when the government was drafting the law. He did note that the company is now in talks with the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) to discuss the bill. Jumia and Amazon subsidiary Souq.com had previously said they expect ot be regulated.
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REGULATION WATCH- The Financial Regulatory Authority issued corporate governance guidelines for factoring and leasing companies on Monday. The regulations govern everything from the constitution of boards and meetings to governance committees and guidelines on conflict of interest. You can read them all here (pdf).
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A visit this week to Egypt by Brazil’s foreign minister has been canceled in protest of Brasilia’s plan to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. “Aloysio Nunes Ferreira was set to fly to Cairo for a Nov. 8-11 visit, during which he was to meet with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his counterpart Sameh Shoukry,” according to Reuters.
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