Egypt’s Orascom Construction Shares Rise In NASDAQ Dubai Listing

Shares in Egypt’s Orascom Construction (OC) started trading at $14.70 as they listed on NASDAQ Dubai on Monday, well above the initial public offer price of $14.25.

The stock then rose further to $14.75, though trading volume was low.

OC sold 11 per cent of its shares in the offer at a price of 108.71 pounds ($14.25) per share, securing a dual listing on the Egyptian stock market and NASDAQ Dubai.

Trading on the Cairo stock market is expected to begin on Wednesday, the company’s chief executive said on Monday.

“We hope it will start tomorrow – if it doesn’t start tomorrow, it will be Wednesday at the latest,” Osama Bishai told reporters at a ceremony to mark Monday’s listing of the shares on NASDAQ Dubai.

“The delay is because of the physical movement of some documents between the two exchanges,” he added.

The engineering and building business controlled by Egypt’s prominent Sawiris family was once the biggest blue-chip stock on the Egyptian exchange, but effectively pulled out of the bourse in 2013 in response to tough conditions under Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

It has is now returning to the Egyptian bourse after the economy started showing early signs of recovery under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army general who oversaw Mursi’s ousting. Its Dubai listing may help the company attract investment and business in the Gulf.