Egypt Stocks: Orascom Construction Industries, Telecom Egypt

Egypt’s benchmark EGX 30 Index (EGX30) declined for the fourth time in five days, losing 1.3 percent to 4,246.68 at the 2:30 p.m. close in Cairo. The measure has dropped 21 percent this quarter.

The following shares rose or fell. Symbols are in parentheses.

Arabia Investments & Development & Financial Investments Holding Co. (AIND) climbed 3.4 percent to 61 piasters, the highest level in almost two weeks. The Egyptian investment company bought a 9.8 percent stake in Beltone Financial Holding (BTFH) SAE in the open market. Beltone shares increased 0.3 percent to 16.04 Egyptian pounds.

Orascom Construction Industries (OCIC) dropped 4.2 percent to 218.94 pounds, the lowest in more than six months. Egypt’s biggest publicly traded builder’s bid to acquire the nitrogen-fertilizer assets of Germany’s BASF SE (BAS) has failed as the seller chose Russia’s OAO EuroChem instead for the deal valued at 700 million euros ($947 million).

Telecom Egypt (ETEL) increased 2.2 percent to 15.38 pounds, the highest level in almost three weeks. The Arab country’s monopoly fixed-line phone company filed a complaint with Egypt’s telecommunications regulator to reclaim 128 million pounds ($21.5 million) owed to it by pre-paid phone card companies.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ahmed A Namatalla in Cairo at anamatalla@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Maedler at cmaedler@bloomberg.net