[2008-03-31]  Egypt bourse up on OT market rumours
Orascom Telecom shares led the Egyptian stock exchange up on Sunday after market rumours a foreign firm had made an offer to buy the telecom operator, brokers said.
"There was a rumour in the market that there is an offer from an international telecom giant to buy the company at $90 per share," said Teymour el-Derini of Beltone Financial.
Company officials could not be immediately reached for comment, but Orascom Telecom's Chief Executive Naguib Sawiris said in December that he had no interest in exiting the telecommunications industry after a similar rumour was reported in a British newspaper.
Shares in the company rose about 4 percent to last trade at 76.49 Egyptian pounds ($14.03).
Another broker, who asked not to be named, said that while an offer was possible, it was unlikely Orascom Telecom would be interested.
Some Egyptian textile companies extended their gains for a third session, led by Arab Polavara, which jumped 13.4 percent to last trade at 12.62 pounds, brokers said.
Al Nasr Clothing and Textiles (KABO) also rose, last trading 1.6 percent higher at 3.11 pounds.
But shares in Nile Cotton Ginning plunged for the second session in a row, losing 23 percent to 24.73 pounds.
"The company unrealistically rallied 250 percent up in two months, and now it is unrealistically going down," Derini said.
The Egyptian Financial and Industrial Company (EFIC) rebounded from early losses in the session after it posted a 14 percent rise in its 2007 net profit.
Shares in the fertilisers firm gained 2.8 percent to 264.97 pounds.
Egypt's benchmark Case 30 index, rose 0.8 percent to close at 11,204.08 points. The Hermes index ended the session also 0.8 percent higher at 98,085.08 points.
But the broader CIBC index was 0.3 percent lower at 551.81 points.
Suez Cement lost 5.4 percent after the Egyptian government said on Thursday it will ban cement exports until Oct. 1. The stock last traded at 56.78.
"The market took the decision in a bad way, as it will cause profit margins to drop," Derini said.
Source: © Guardian News and Media Limited 2008