Market report:

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The unprecedented high weekly turnover of the market through the week ending 7 June failed to push up CASE30, which ended the week 0.9 per cent lower at 7,703 points. Overall market transactions reached LE13.8 billion compared to LE6.9 billion in the previous week. The increase was due to Abraaj Capital's acquisition of Misr Fertilisers Company for $1.4 billion. Other than this block deal, the market was dominated by profit-taking transactions by investors looking to capitalise on their previous week's gains.

And while the prime minister issued a decree renewing the contract of Maged Shawqi as the chairman of Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange and head of the Capital Market Authority (CMA), CASE's supervisory body was changed. Ahmed Saad, former CMA deputy chairman and a board member in CASE, is to replace Hani Sarieddin as the head of CMA.

ORASCOM TELECOM HOLDING (OTH): The company said that it is currently considering more acquisitions in European markets which are less expensive than emerging economies. It purchased 312,377 treasury shares for LE72.98 and LE75.2. This came with the company's previous announcement that it will buy back 37.7 million of its shares from the market during a one month period ending on 29 June.

EGYPTIAN COMPANY FOR MOBILE SERVICES (MOBINIL): Sources close to the company asserted that the delay in applying for a 3G licence is due to a disagreement between the company's main shareholders on the feasibility of the step due to the high cost of getting the licence. MobiNil would have had to pay LE3.4 billion in addition to 2.4 per cent of company revenues from 3G services had it applied for the licence. The company and its two competitors Etisalat Misr and Vodafone Egypt are waiting for the international gateway licence that the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority said it will be launching by early July. The licences will be sold at a preset price and not through an auction.

WATANY BANK OF EGYPT: The competition to get a majority stake in the bank is getting fiercer with the Central Bank of Egypt shortlisting three banks out of the original five banks to perform due diligence for WBE. The three are Euro Bank of Greece, National Bank of Kuwait and an unnamed bank based in the UAE. On another development, WBE's board of directors decided to inject LE1.5 million into the bank's employee fund to protect its beneficiaries' rights when the sale of the bank takes place. The fund has been operational since 1993, and is funded through annual appropriations from the bank's net profits and contributions from employees' salaries.

RAYA HOLDING: The company won a bid to offer maintenance services for sets produced by the Swedish telecom group Nokia in 14 African countries. The company revealed plans to invest LE50 million to finance its regional expansion schemes. It will open through Nokia a customer service centre in Nigeria in July, increase its retail shops and establish a maintenance service in Algeria where it has 27 retail outlets at present.

GHABBOUR GROUP: This leading car manufacturer and distributor is increasing its capital by LE1.2 billion through both a public and private subscription to finance the company's expansion plans. The plans include increasing assembly lines in the company's factories and setting up new service and maintenance centres. The stake to be issued to the public through an IPO includes 7.5 million shares with a minimum subscription of 150 shares and a maximum subscription of 60,000 at a price of LE39 per share. Subscription starts on 22 June and ends on 2 July. The private placement is for a minimum of 23.7 million shares and a maximum of 27.7 million shares. Some 3.5 million private placement shares are to be set aside to finance the stability of the share price post the IPO.

Compiled by Sherine Abdel-Razek