Arabian Cement Egypt Rises 5%; Trading Volume Surges

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Arabian Cement Co. rose 4.6 percent, the biggest gain since April 11 compared with end-of-day price changes and almost 14 times the country’s benchmark index.

The shares climbed to EGP 8.81 from EGP 8.42. Trading volume was more than five times the 30-day average of 494,560 for this time of day.

Arabian Cement Egypt’s move compares with the 0.3 percent gain in the Egyptian Exchange EGX 30 Price Index and little change in the MSCI Emerging Markets Europe, Middle East and Africa Index, which was down 0.03 percent. The stock is 26 percent below the Bloomberg consensus one-year target price.

Arabian Cement Egypt stock trades at a lower P/E ratio than its industry even though growth in earnings per share, sales and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization are higher than the median of its peers. The company’s ratio of enterprise value to EBITDA is also below its rivals.

In the past year, the stock had a similar or greater gain 11 times at the close and continued to rise the next day by an average 3 percent. It advanced six times for an average 6.4 percent, and declined five times for an average 1 percent.

Arabian Cement Egypt trades at more than 13 times trailing 12-month earnings and almost 10 times its estimated profit for the coming year. Its stock advanced 29 percent so far this year and gained 7.4 percent in the past 52 weeks.

Arabian Cement Co produces all types of cement and concrete products. The Company supplies clinker, cement and concrete products