The latest ISX Iraq Stock Exchange news including Banks, Capital, ISX Investment and more.
Last week the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) announced that it was authorizing the two largest state-owned banks, Rafidain Bank and Rashid Bank, to sell US dollars at auction. The CBI’s goal is to reduce the spread between its own auction rate and the unofficial “street” exchange rate, which has recently been as wide as […]
In a post from March of last year, I noted that Iraqi bank stocks did not seem particularly attractive on a valuation basis. PE’s were high and growth was unspectacular. This is no longer the case for the entire sector. While share prices have gone pretty much nowhere, 2011 was a stellar year for earnings […]
2011 was a good year for HSBC’s 70%-owned subsidiary Dar Es Salam Bank (BDSI). Full-year operating and pre-tax profit rose 921% and 877%, respectively, with almost all of this gain occurring in the second half. Year-end deposits and lending were up 70% and 81% over December, 2010. Operating profit came in at IQD 9.4 bn, […]
At the end of last month the Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes announced that it would begin offering equity swaps on ISX-listed shares to institutional investors. (See this story.) This new product has the potential to bring about a dramatic increase in foreign participation in the Iraqi stock market. An equity swap allows an investor to […]
So far this year Iraqi stocks have been surprisingly oblivious to three very bullish developments. The Iraq Securities Commission has finally issued its instruction on custodian bank licenses. (See this post for more on custodian banks.) The European Central Bank (ECB) is running its printing presses at maximum capacity. And earnings are up sharply at […]
Foreign net buying of ISX-listed shares has been waning since the middle of last year. After rising from about IQD 900 million for all of 2010, average weekly net buying by non-Iraqis rose to over IQD 4 billion in the first half of last year but then declined to about IQD 2.8 billion in the […]
Since 2007, the Rabee Securities RSISX index has ended on a down note every year except 2010. (See chart.) In 2007, 2008, and 2009, the index peaked in July, August, and November, respectively, subsequently falling 27%, 7%, and 9% from those peaks to the respective year-end closes. 2010 was exceptional because the new government was […]
According to a report from Reuters, with better regulation and the expected listing of the country's three main mobile phone firms, foreign investors are increasingly choosing Iraq's stock market as a lucrative investment. Iraq's bourse is still tiny in comparison with other regional or international stock markets, but a drop in violence since the peak […]
The Warka Bank shareholders meeting originally scheduled for October 6 was held last Wednesday (Oct 12). From what I have heard from various sources, there was some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the bank will be getting an IQD 100 bn loan from the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI). […]
Iraq's stock exchange market will double its capitalization to $8 billion once the three main mobile-phone companies operating in the country are listed, according to Taha A. Abdulsalam, chief executive of the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX). The three mobile phone operators, Asiacell, Korek Telecom, and Zain Iraq, are required by the terms to their licences […]
The mobile phone operators are finally getting their IPOs [initial public offerings - A company's first offering of common stock to the public] organized. Recently Asiacell and Zain began conversions to joint stock ownership. Zain is also reported to have engaged Citibank and BNP Paribas to work on valuation. So far as I know, Korek […]
With most Middle East stock markets having been dragged down by the turmoil unleashed by the Arab spring and a sputtering global economy, some adventurous fund managers have started exploring opportunities in the tiny Iraqi market, according to a report from Bloomberg. The Iraqi Stock Exchange, or ISX, says its main market index has surged […]
