Egypt stocks climbed to the highest level since January, led by Six of October Development & Investment (OCDI) Co., on investor speculation declines in real-estate shares last month were overdone given growth prospects.
Six of October, a luxury developer, jumped 8 percent, trimming the drop since trading resumed 23 March after an almost two-month suspension to 15 percent. Palm Hills Developments SAE (PHDC), a Cairo-based property company, gained for the first time in 10 trading days. Egypt’s EGX 30 Index (EGX30) advanced 1.7 percent to 5,558.64 at the 2:30 pm close in Cairo. The index has lost 1.6 percent since trading resumed. Dubai’s measure fell today, while Israel’s benchmark index rose 0.8 percent.
“Real-estate stocks are attractive as they have become extremely discounted,” said Ashraf Akhnoukh, senior equity sales trader at Cairo-based Commercial International Brokerage. “The sector was the worst performer since the market resumed trading.”
The EGX 30’s 22 percent plunge this year has left the index valued at 1.5 times book value, compared with about 1.9 times at the end of 2010, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Palm Hills has tumbled 43 percent since trading resumed and Talaat Moustafa Group (TMGH) Holding, Egypt’s biggest publicly traded real-estate developer, has slumped 28 percent. Neither the EGX 30 nor the broader EGX 100 have subindexes, according to data on Bloomberg.
Trading in Egypt was halted since the end of January until last month amid protests that ousted former president Hosni Mubarak in February.
Amer Group Holding (AMER), which develops hotels, malls and restaurants, gained 4.4 percent today to 1.44 pounds, trimming the drop since the end of January to percent. Beltone Financial initiated the shares with an “add” recommendation and a price estimate of 2.8 pounds. “The stock has been over- penalized,” Beltone analysts Harshjit Oza and Ahmed Khalil wrote in a note 31 March. “The stock offers an attractive risk reward at the current price.”
Six of October soared to 68.46 pounds. Palm Hills surged 8.1 percent, the most since March 2009, to 2.79 pounds and Talaat rose 4.4 percent to 4.73 pounds.
