Orascom shares to be listed on Egyptian exchange

Orascom Telecom Holding is North Africa’s biggest mobile phone company by users Egyptian telecommunications giant Orascom Telecom (OT) has completed its demerger, and the company’s two new shares will be listed on the Egyptian exchange on Tuesday, January 03, 2012, according to the Egyptian Exchange’s (EGX) Listing Committee. OT has been split into two units: Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) and Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT). Opening prices of the shares have yet to be determined by the exchange's trading committee, but the two shares will be available for trading one day after the publication of the disclosure report required by the market's listing rules. The opening prices should be linked to the par value split between the two shares, namely 42 per cent for OTMT (or LE1.25 per share) and 58 per cent for OTH (or LE1.75 per share), according to OT’s last closing price on 24 November 2011 of LE2.98 per share. Slammed by declining currency value, OT experienced a net loss of $975,000 for the third quarter after a profit of $939 million a year earlier. The company blamed part of the net loss on a stronger Egyptian pound against the Canadian dollar, which led to a foreign exchange loss on a loan to its Canadian business. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 21 per cent to $481 million as revenues climbed 3.5 per cent to $1.01 billion.