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Egyptian E-Payment Firm Fawry Surges in Trading Debut in Cairo

(Bloomberg) — The first company to make its trading debut on Egypt’s bourse this year, electronic-payments firm Fawry for Banking & Payment Technology Services S.A.E., saw its shares jump after its initial public offering.

The stock rose 29% to trade at 8.31 Egyptian pounds as of 10:07 a.m. local time after shares were sold at 6.46 Egyptian pounds in the IPO. The offering represented 36% of Fawry’s share capital and raised about 1.6 billion Egyptian pounds ($97 million). EFG Hermes Holding was the manager of the sale.

Fawry is an 11-year-old company that facilitates electronic bill-payments in urban neighborhoods, and counts 20 million Egyptians as customers, according to its website. Its retail network includes grocers and pharmacies. A tranche of the IPO offered to institutional investors was oversubscribed by 15.9 times, according to EFG Hermes.

Fawry is the first IPO on the EGX since Sarwa Capital in October 2018, as high interest rates attract investors to fixed income rather than equities. The government has delayed plans to offer stakes in some state-run companies, sales that were supposed to streamline the bloated public sector and turn around loss-making enterprises.

Following the “good reception” to the IPO, the stock will likely outperform within its first month of trading, said Amr Elalfy, the head of research at SHUAA Securities Egypt.

A stock stabilization fund managed by EFG Hermes will help sustain the stock price in the first month of trading. This measure “should support the stock holders from the public offering,” Elalfy wrote in a message earlier this week. Potential risks to the stock’s performance include low liquidity, revenue, and growth rates that fail to meet market expectations and weakening margins, he said.

Table: Fawry’s share capital distribution in IPO

 

–With assistance from Mirette Magdy.

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