The indicators of the Egyptian bourse’s performance are more than just price surges and depressions, head of Egyptian Exchange (EGX) Mohamed Omran said during a press conference on Tuesday.
He further urged investors to take an overall look at how the capital market has survived compared to previous years and similar markets, despite a fiscal year that saw a deterioration in stock prices.
In review of EGX’s year, Omran said that 15 new companies were listed in the Egyptian stock market, in 2015, the largest number of companies since 2009, with collective capital of EGP 6bn.
“It [capital] was 30 times more than in 2013 and three times more than the capital of companies listed in 2014,” he added.
The deterioration of stock prices was a trend for all emerging markets and Egypt was no exception, Omran highlighted.
The year has witnessed several terrorist incidents that negatively affected international bourses, Omran added.
“Even in regards to economic growth, China for example, which is the second biggest economy worldwide, has gone through slow economic growth in 2015,” Omran explained.
Between 2012 and 2015, however, the return on investments remained high in Egypt, Omran added.
Omran also pointed out that EGX registered the highest number of IPOs (initial public offering) in 10 years and the highest rate in the region.
Omran added that EGX has one of the highest disclosure levels around the world.
The Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority (EFSA) has implemented several amendments to regulations in 2015, Chairman of EFSA Sherif Sami said.
Amendments to listing regulations included conditions of stock-market listed companies whose stocks are not issued for public offerings, Sami explained.
During the conference, Sami addressed the issue of the capital gains tax stemming from a conflict in the law’s enforcement. The EFSA has coordinated with the Tax Authority to issue a booklet that explains the tax conditions.
Sami also said companies should not pay capital gain taxes between the period when he law went into effect in July 2014 and when it was repealed in May 2015.
“We are also discussing the possibility of whether or not losses registered on an earlier year would be taken into account when calculating the tax,” Sami said.
Discussing his plans for the bourse in 2016, Omran announced that before the end of the first quarter, the EGX data centre will be moved from its headquarters in downtown Cairo to the Smart Village in 6th of October City, where there is high concentration of technology companies and investment banks, and where the EFSA and the EGX headquarters are located.