The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) experienced substantial growth in 2024, driven by increased trading, new listings, and innovative financial products.
Key Performance Indicators:
- EGX30 Performance: The main index saw a 19.47 per cent increase, recovering from earlier losses.
- Overall Returns: Returns on indices since the beginning of the year reached an impressive 48.77 per cent.
- Market Capitalisation: Reached 2.17 trillion Egyptian Pounds at year-end, a substantial increase of approximately 450 billion Egyptian pounds compared to the start of the year.
- Trading Value: Total trading value across all securities soared to 14.3 trillion Egyptian pounds.
- Dividend Distributions: Reached 68.8 billion Egyptian pounds.
New Listings and Market Restructuring:
- New Company Listings: 11 new companies, plus one resulting from a split, joined the exchange.
- Listing Standards: Efforts were made to restructure markets by unifying listing standards.
- Trading Mechanics: The exchange modified the bidding unit for share prices to boost liquidity.
New Financial Instruments and Market Initiatives:
- Shariah Index: The EGX33 Sharia Index was launched, catering to Shariah-compliant investments.
- Carbon Trading Market: A voluntary carbon trading market for carbon credits was launched, promoting sustainable finance.
- First SPAC Listing: The EGX celebrated the listing of its first Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC).
IPOs and SME Growth:
- Initial Public Offerings (IPOs): Several companies raised substantial capital through IPOs.
- Government IPO Programme: Included the offering of the United Bank, the first bank IPO in approximately 20 years.
- SME Transition: Several small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) successfully transitioned from the EGX for SMEs (NILEX) to the main market.
Investor Participation:
- New Investors: 228,500 new individual investors and 2,000 new institutional investors joined the market.
- Trading Volume: The highest number of traders in a single session reached 50,411 on February 25, 2024.
- Investor Relations: The exchange launched an investor relations record and trained 290 qualified investor relations officers.
Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English
Subediting: Y.Yasser