The latest ISX Iraq Stock Exchange news including Banks, Capital, ISX Investment and more.
Recently ISX CEO Taha Ahmed Abdul Salam told reporters that foreigners now hold 19% of ISX-listed shares. (See this link.) This seems like a big percentage but in fact reveals that foreign institutional participation in the market remains quite limited. As of the end of last month, strategic shareholders in the eight foreign-invested banks held […]
The Iraq Stock Exchange has announced that it has launched the dissemination of real time and delayed Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) market data in conjunction with DirectFN, popularly known as Mubasher in the Middle East. The launch is part of the ISX plan to allow local and foreign investors to view real-time stock prices for […]
On June 7, HSBC announced that it would be subscribing in full to Dar Es Salam Bank’s (BDSI) 46.9% rights issue. The “world’s local bank” will be buying 23.7 bn new BDSI shares at IQD 1 each for the equivalent of about US$ 20.3 mn. (See this link for the announcement .) The HSBC subscription […]
On May 30 Rabee Securities’ new office in Erbil successfully connected to the ISX network and began trading. This was an important step forward for the stock exchange. For the first time, a brokerage branch outside Baghdad is now online. In a country like Iraq, the expansion of brokers’ branch networks to other cities is […]
In March ISX-listed Qimma Financial Investment (VQUF) announced that Warka Bank’s majority shareholder, Saad Al Bunnia, had appointed it to “begin a formal auction process following a due diligence report carried out by Price Waterhouse Coopers.” The announcement, which was posted on Qimma’s website, went on to say that Mr. Bunnia was “interested in entertaining […]
Last August, the government announced it was making available a total of US$ 300 mn to renovate six Baghdad hotels in preparation for the Arab League Summit. The six—the ISX-listed Palestine (HPAL), Babylon (HBAY), Baghdad (HBAG), Mansour (HMAN), and Ishtar Sheraton (HISH) hotels, and the unlisted Rashid Hotel—were to receive 75% of the new funding […]
May 12 was the last day of trading for Mosul Bank (BMFI) ahead of its proposed merger with Union Bank (BUOI). The stock closed up 7% bringing its year-to-date gain to 29%. BUOI ended the day unchanged and is up only 12% year-to-date. While the deal is being described as a merger, it would in […]
By the end of next month, the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) is requiring all private-sector banks to increase capital to IQD 100 bn. The banks were originally supposed to have reached this target by the end of last year but so few could have managed it that the CBI had to give them an […]
On April 24, the ISX website reported that Mosul Bank (BMFI) will hold a general assembly meeting on May 22 to discuss a possible merger with Union Bank (BUOI). A capital increase via a rights and bonus issue is also on the agenda. The evident objective of such a merger would be to satisfy the […]
On March 11, Rabee Securities came out with the first-ever sector report on ISX-listed companies. The report, which could be thought of as something of a milestone for the Iraqi market, is on the banks—the most heavily weighted sector in terms of both trading volume and market cap. For me the main takeaway was that […]
So far the Japanese earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster have had surprisingly little impact on emerging markets. While the Nikkei is down 13% since the quake (as of March 17), the MSCI emerging markets index has fallen only 3%. And in Iraq, Rabee Securities’ RSISX is actually up 0.4%. Emerging markets could continue to slide, […]
As revolution sweeps across the Middle East, Iraq is still reportedly attracting funds to into its listed companies. The Iraqi Stock Exchange (ISX), which began trading in 2004 with 15 stocks, has attracted $20 million in foreign capital in 2011 from regions like the United States, Europe, the Gulf and Egypt, according to a statement […]
