🔔 Good morning, and welcome to Telda Lens — your daily pulse on Egypt’s markets.

Today: Egypt is exploring a strategic stake sale in Egypt Aluminum (EGAL), ValU got the green light to launch in Jordan, Gourmet Foods is lining up an EGX IPO, and El Arabia Engineering Industries approved a capital increase and asset sale.

🔔 EGX30 ended -0.54% by market close at 40,676 points, the EGX70 fell 1.48% to 12,905 points, and the EGX100 dropped 1.41%  to reach 17,098 points.

💸 The number of transactions reached 164,880 spread across 1,986,296,569 stocks leading to a turnover of EGP 6.2 billion.

🏷️ Local investors were the only net sellers.

📈Top gainers across the broader market Alexandria National Company for Financial Investment (+10.90%), M.B Engineering (+9.79%), and Arab Co. for Asset Management And Development (+6.59%).

📉 Top losers: Gulf Canadian Real Estate Investment Co. (-12.79%, )Beltone Holding. (-5.31%), Canal Shipping Agencies (-5.16%.)

⬆️ Top gainers for EGX30 included Egypt Aluminum (+3.2%), Alexandria Mineral Oils (+2.5%), and E-finance (+2.3%).

⬇️ Top losers included: Beltone Holding (-5.31%), Orascom Development (-4.2%), and Ibnsina Pharma (-3.7%).

Other Important Stats: 

🧈 24K Gold reached EGP 6,869 per gram, up 0.53% day-on-day and up 6.79% month-on-month.

💲 The USD reached EGP 47.3 at the National Bank of Egypt.

👀 Egypt is considering an up to USD 600 million deal to bring a strategic investor into majority state-owned Egypt Aluminum (EGAL), with interest already from three international firms, including companies from the UAE and the wider Gulf, a government source told EnterpriseAM. (Read more in our Deeper Look section.)

✅️ U Consumer Finance (VALU) has secured final approval from the Central Bank of Jordan to officially launch its specialized financing services, with operations expected to start in Q1 2026. The company appointed former Jordanian Investment Minister Mothanna Gharaibeh as chairman and Mohamed Al-Youssef as CEO of ValU Jordan, marking the start of its full entry into the market. Jordan represents a key growth opportunity for ValU, given the rising demand for flexible financial solutions and a rapidly evolving digital payments ecosystem.

🔔Gourmet Foods, is preparing for a potential IPO, with shareholders planning to sell around 40% of the company on the EGX through a secondary offering, sources told Hapi Journal. Private equity firm B Investments (BINV), the majority owner, has filed the preliminary prospectus with the Financial Regulatory Authority, and the board is expected to approve the sale next week to move the IPO into formal regulatory review.

💵The extraordinary general assembly of  El Arabia Engineering Industries’ (EEII) approved an increase in the company’s authorized capital from EGP 100 million to EGP 400 million, the company said in an EGX disclosure yesterday. The shareholders also approved a valuation report for the company’s physical assets, supporting the board’s decision to sell the company’s old factory in 10th of Ramadan City.

💰 Remittances from Egyptians abroad surged 42.5% in between January and November 2025, reaching a record USD 37.5 billion, up from USD 26.3 billion during the same period last year, according to data from The Central Bank of Egypt said. In November alone, remittances rose nearly 40% to USD 3.6 billion compared to USD 2.6 billion in November 2024. The government aims to grow remittance inflows by 10% annually, targeting USD 53 billion by 2030 as part of its long-term strategy to strengthen external finances.

🚇A joint Egyptian-French consortium will build a EUR 160 million railway linking the dry port in 10th of Ramadan City to Egypt’s main seaports, two sources told Asharq Business on condition of anonymity. The consortium, which includes Egyptian firms Rowad Modern Engineering and Concrete Plus alongside France’s Alstom, will handle design, supply, and operation of mechanical, signaling, communications, and central control systems.

A transaction valued between USD 300 million and USD 600 million is being evaluated as the government explores bringing a strategic investor into Egypt Aluminum, a government official told EnterpriseAM. The structure under consideration involves a capital increase that would see an investor acquire a 30% stake, with funds earmarked exclusively for company expansion.

International appetite for the opportunity has already materialized, with three foreign investors submitting proposals, including firms from the UAE and the wider Gulf region, the source told the news outlet.

The government is working toward narrowing the field and selecting a preferred investor within weeks, the source told EnterpriseAM, as it moves to finalize the next phase of the process.

According to the source, the core objective is growth rather than privatization. Any incoming partner would be required to execute a wide-ranging development program, including doubling EgyptAlum’s output to around 600 thousand tons annually and adding new downstream manufacturing lines such as aluminum foil, alumina processing, and automotive components.

Energy transition has become a non-negotiable element of the plan as EgyptAlum prepares for shifting global trade rules, particularly in Europe, the news outlet notes

Remember, the company will soon power its Naga Hammadi complex from Scatec’s USD 650 million solar project — a 1 GW plant paired with 200 MWh of battery storage.

Around 60% of EgyptAlum’s output is exported, and shifting the smelter to renewable power is aimed squarely at meeting EU sustainability standards and preserving the company’s access to premium markets. Management says the move should help sustain demand for Egyptian aluminum abroad by lowering the carbon footprint of export.

Egypt Aluminum reported a sharp decline in first-quarter net profit for FY 2025–26, with net income of EGP 2.41 billion versus EGP 4.23 billion a year earlier — a 43% fall. Revenues were effectively flat at EGP 11.32 billion (down marginally from EGP 11.33 billion)