CAIRO: Shares in Commercial International Bank (CIB) gained 7.31 percent on market expectations of strong full-year earnings, helping Egypt s benchmark stock index rise 1 percent on Wednesday.
Traders said foreign investors helped push the market up, emerging as the session s only net buyers by about LE 93 million ($16.7 million).
Shares in CIB, one of Egypt s top privately-owned banks, last traded at LE 33.60.
The CIB has been one of the strongest stocks in the market over the past three to four months. Whenever it gets close to LE 30, people buy and make money on it, said Ashraf Akhnoukh of CIBC Brokerage.
The results are expected to be better-than-expected because the forecasts are not very nice, he said. The bank is expected to release the results on Feb. 10.
Investment bank EFG-Hermes says its expects CIB to post a 7 percent increase in net profit for the fourth quarter of 2008 at LE 369 million. CI Capital research put the figure at LE 343 million.
CIB shares shed 9.67 percent in the year to Wednesday s close. Their run outperforms the CASE 30 index, which last traded at 3,548.44 points, cutting its losses in 2009 to 22.8 percent.
The rival Hermes index rose 0.24 percent to 343.12 points and the broader CIBC-100 index shed 0.32 percent to 248.6 points.
Also helping the CASE 30 index rise was Egypt s largest mobile phone operator Mobinil, which rose 2.84 percent to LE 132.75 a share after posting stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results this week.
For Mobinil it is definitely because of their strong results, which were better than expected, said Karim Hosny of Pharos Securities. He said the market was staging a mini-rally in the downtrend.
