The Markets | - Part 256

Egyptian pound steady on official market, weaker on black market

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s central bank kept the pound steady at 7.53 pounds to the dollar at a foreign exchange auction on Sunday, while the domestic currency weakened on the black market. The central bank has now kept the official exchange rate steady for more than a month after letting the pound weaken in an attempt to wipe out black-market trading. The bank said it had offered $40 million at auction and sold $38.4 million…

South Africa’s rand firms as dollar bulls take back seat

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand strengthened against the U.S. dollar on Friday, shaking off a credit downgrade to state electricity company Eskom as emerging markets currencies took advantage of a weaker greenback. At 1529 GMT the rand firmed 1.9 percent to 12.0650 per dollar, having earlier hit a session high of 12.0520. The euro was headed for its best weekly performance against the dollar in more than two years, following a surprisingly dovish statement…

African Inflation Snapshot: February 2015

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Angola inflation rises to 7.73 percent: Angola’s consumer inflation edged up to 7.73 percent year-on-year in February from 7.44 percent in January, data from the statistics office. On a month-on-month basis, prices were up 0.76 percent after a 0.72 percent increase previously. Botswana’s inflation falls to 2.8 percent: The annual inflation rate in February 2015 was 2.8 percent, a drop of 0.8 of a percentage point on the January 2015 rate of 3.6 percent. Annual…

Global Corporate Bond Issurance and Outlook

Posted on by The Editorial Team

After advancing by 33% annually in 2012 to a record $1.134 trillion, 2013’s US$-denominated investment grade (IG) bond issuance dipped by -1.5% to $1.119 trillion. Following 2012’s 48% annual surge, US$-denominated high yield bond issuance advanced by 11% to a record $431 billion in 2013. Also, after gaining 5% in 2012, newly rated high yield bank loan programs increased by 38% annually to $579 billion in 2013. In 2014, US$-denominated bond issuance edged up by…

Moody’s: M&A Props Up Corporate Issuance

Posted on by The Editorial Team

A recent surge in merger activity brings the current year’s pace in line with last year’s massive gains. Such heavy dealmaking volume is likely to persist, given favourable capital markets and the desire of firms to gain scale amid weak profit growth. That merger trend can give a great lift to corporate debt issuance, despite earlier expectations for a slowdown in corporate borrowing. Adding to the favourable environment for both issuance and M&A is a…

MOPCO in talks to hire financial advisor for IPO

Posted on by The Editorial Team

State-owned Misr Fertilizers Production Company (MOPCO) is in talks to appoint an independent financial advisor to set the stock’s fair value in preparation for listing on the local stock market, said Chairman Hassan Abdel Alim. The Egyptian Exchange said it received a request on Thursday from the state-owned fertiliser producer to list on the stock market with EGP 2.3 billion capital. The portion of shares to be floated has not been defined yet, the top…

African real estate has unique drivers for growth: PwC report

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Global megatrends, such as rapid urbanisation and demographic changes, will drive growth opportunities in the real estate industry across the African continent over the next five years. “The pace of change in the world is accelerating, with a series of transitions, known as global megatrends, transforming the way in which business and society operate,” says Ilse French, Real Estate Leader for PwC Africa. “More and more, investors around the world are seeing the growth potential…

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