By: Mahmoud Salah El-Din and Waleed Abd El-Salam
Cairo - Mubasher: The CEO of the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) said in an interview with Mubasher on Tuesday that despite the negative beginning of the year, 2016 saw a positive ending due to economic reforms.
Mohamed Omran added that EGX is planning to carry on with its 2014-2017 strategy, which involves legislative and adaptable reforms, marinating transparency, and to finally elect a new board.
Omran praised the decision to float the Egyptian pound on 3 November, as it helped to raise traded volumes in the Egyptian bourse, and expressed his hopes for the positive trend to continue in 2017.
He also added EGX saw five initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2016, the most in the region according to Omran.
Omran also explained that despite that January witnessed the worst performance ever for global markets, the Egyptian bourse registered the biggest growth compared to other international markets as per Morgan Stanley.
The market value jumped 42% to nearly EGP 179 billion helping the market capital exceeding EGP 600 billion for the first time in 8 years, its highest level since the 2008 global financial crisis.
The buying activity of foreign investors also reached a record high netting EGP 6.9 billion, he added.
46 companies, around 18% of the total EGX-listed companies, increased their capital in 2016 with a total value that reached EGP 5 billion, raising the total value of capital hikes in the last three years to EGP 28 billion.
Omran also noted that there is a number of companies considering being listed on EGX, and when asked about listing only one company in the Nile Exchange (Nilex) he stressed that the Egyptian bourse is keen on supporting listing companies but without violating disclosure or governance rules to avoid potential conflicts.
Traded in Nilex surged 40% in 2016 with a total turnover of nearly EGP 900 million compared to EGP 617 million last year, Omran indicated.
Translated by: Moslem Ali
