Egyptian shares were steady on Sunday as profit-taking kept indices flat, and investment bank EFG-Hermes fell after it agreed to sell a 25 percent stake through a capital increase, traders said.
EFG-Hermes said it had agreed to an offer by Abraaj Capital of the United Arab Emirates to buy more than 97 million new EFG-Hermes shares at 30 Egyptian pounds per share in a deal valued at 2.9 billion pounds ($505 million).
Traders said the market was disappointed that EFG-Hermes had not announced what they planned to do with the money raised by the deal, and some retail investors were also taking profit.
"The market already knew they were going to accept Abraaj's offer," said Yasser Hassanein of Dynamic Securities.
"A lot of people in the market wanted to know what EFG-Hermes was planning to invest in with the money, and the company did not announce that. Also, some people in the market think it is a time for a small correction," he added.
EFG-Hermes' shares, the day's most heavily traded stock, dropped 2.6 percent to end at 43.94 pounds.
"The market was very flat and we did not expect a rally. Dealers were hesitant all day, but there was no news and so we saw a sell-off at the end," said Sarah Tolba, a senior sales trader at Delta Securities. The Hermes benchmark index slipped 0.1 percent to 54,273.55 points, while the broader CIBC index rose 0.2 percent to 238.99 points. The well-watched Case 30 index fell 0.3 percent to 6,213.53 points.
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