Change at the CIB in Egypt: Reassuring fundamentals

Change at the CIB in Egypt: Reassuring fundamentals

Shares in Egypt's largest private-sector bank, the Commercial International Bank (CIB), ended in the red on Monday for the second consecutive day. But the decline was limited in relation to the fuss caused by the resignation of long-time Chairman Hisham Ezz Al-Arab in the business arena.

The CIB is Egypt's largest private commercial bank with regard to the value of assets. As a stock-market bellwether, it has a major weight on the Egyptian Stock Exchange's EGX30 Index, representing around 43 per cent of an Index that is considered the market's main gauge.

The bank also has substantial foreign holdings, and its shares are traded as global depository receipts (GDRs) on the London Stock Exchange. GDRs in London fell by 17 per cent on Thursday, but then rebounded on