Egypt's government shut the stockmarket on January 28, after the outbreak of the uprising that ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak caused the benchmark index to plunge by more than 16pc in two days.
The crisis has rattled international investors, prompting an exodus of foreign funds and warnings of a renewed sell-off by spooked investors once trading resume. Here's how some of its most prominent listed companies coped as events unfolded.
Palm Hills Developments
Egypt's second-biggest listed property developer said on Tuesday it had resumed operations following a one-week hiatus. It said it had confirmed with Egypt's stock exchange that its shares would be trading normally when the bourse reopened.
Oriental Weavers
Haitam Moneim, investor relations manager at the world's largest machine-woven carpetmaker said on February 6: "In the past week, we closed all our production facilities like all other companies, and we secured our showrooms ... To avoid any delays to clients, we shifted orders from plants in Egypt to plants in the United States and in China."
Ezz Steel
Egypt's largest steel maker said its plants were operating although not at full capacity and said an investigation involving the chairman would not affect company activity. "The company confirms that ... Mr Ahmed Ezz, Ezz Steel's chairman and major shareholder, has been directed by the Egyptian authorities to remain in Egypt. This measure, which is strictly personal to Mr Ezz, does not affect the operation of the company," it said, adding he denied the accusations against him.
Orascom Construction
Egypt's biggest listed firm said it had resumed work at almost 90pc of its construction sites in Egypt as of Sunday February 6. OCI said production rates were normal at its fertiliser plants and exports were under way, adding it had shipped 52,000 tonnes of urea and was in the process of sending 38,500 tonnes of ammonia.
EFG-Hermes
Egypt's biggest investment bank, which has up to $6.2bn in assets under management, said it had resumed work and there had been no damage to any of its assets or property. The firm said there had been no management changes to its board as a result of the events.
Suez Cement
The country's largest listed cement company said it had resumed shipments of cement stocks that had been suspended by the political protests. Suez, a subsidiary of Italcementi, which supplies roughly a quarter of Egypt's grey cement and 42 pc of its white cement, resumed operations in all its factories as of February 5.
Citadel Capital
Cairo-based private equity firm Citadel Capital resumed full operations as of February 6, without damage to any of its assets or affiliate subsidiaries, the firm said. "In the long term, Citadel Capital believes that this difficult period will result in a more stable and faster-growing Egypt and region," a statement on its website said. "In the coming period, we see very compelling opportunities for long-term private equity investors in Egypt and beyond."
Arafa Holding
Arafa Holding, Egypt's biggest garment exporter, said all of its production facilities had started running again as of Saturday. "We expect a shipment lag of almost a week predominately due to the logistical interruption that took place at the shipping harbours last week," Arafa said. "However, we are pleased to state that product shipments by sea and air have been initiated effective Saturday, February 5."
Baraka Bank Saud
Al Baraka Egypt Bank, a Cairo-based Islamic Bank, in which Bahrain's Al Baraka Banking Group has a controlling stake, said it had returned to full operation. "No damage has occurred to any of the bank's branches and five new exchange branches were also opened to the public," it said.
Elsewedy Electric
The biggest Arab cable maker said on Sunday all its facilities in Egypt were operating. The firm said its logistics suffered a bottleneck that was partially solved by relocating its manufacturing orders and exports sales outside of Egypt. For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
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