As we alluded here yesterday, it often helps to play the waiting game. Those who waited would have celebrated yesterday’s intraday rally, with EGX 30 and EGX 70 EWI jumping 1.7% and 2.2%, respectively. Of the 10 stocks we made positive calls on, as mentioned yesterday, seven ended the day higher, two flat, and only one nudged lower. Trading activity rose to exceed the EGP1bn market, the first time so far in Ramadan, but it is not clear yet if it is the start of a recovery in traded values.
Meanwhile, it is interesting to see mergers and acquisitions (M&A) news resurfaced today. Some of the news are just follow-ups, but others are new. For the former, SODIC [OCDI] and Alexandria Medical Services [AMES] are being targeted by local and regional suitors. For the latter, Egyptian Iron & Steel [IRON] is being targeted by a UK-based firm, raising hopes about its development plans and how it will be implemented, be it through an acquisition or a partnership deal. Among the EGX-listed names involved in these M&A news are Cleopatra Hospitals Group [CLHO] and Speed Medical [SPMD] which are competing to acquire a 51% stake in AMES. We note that CI Capital Holding [CICH] has been retained as the exclusive financial advisor for the AMES stake sale. Hence, we would expect to see above-average activity on these names.