EFG Hermes subsidiary resumes its EGP 2 bn corporate bond programme

EFG Hermes subsidiary, Hermes Securities Brokerage, sold a second 500 million Egyptian pounds ($31.7 million) tranche of unsecuritised bonds, resuming its 2 billion Egyptian pounds two-year corporate bond programme, according to a statement.

The issuance was 1.3x oversubscribed without local banks, with strong demand from “a broad array of domestic Egyptian corporates,” said EFG Hermes’ co-head of investment banking Mostafa Gad.

The EFG Hermes subsidiary began the programme with a 400 million pounds issuance of one-year bonds in December 2019, ending a decade-long dry spell for corporate bond issuances.

New FRA regulations introduced in 2018 now allow joint-stock and limited liability companies, banks, financial institutions, and SMEs to sell short-term debt instruments with maturities of less than two years to retail and institutional investors.