Citadel Capital’s shares boosted after IPO talk

Shares in Citadel Capital, the Egyptian private equity firm, rose in early trading the day after the firm suggested that it could launch an IPO for one or two of its portfolio companies. The IPOs would be in the region of $175 million to $250 million and could happen in the next year to two years. Citadel, founded in 2004, controls investments worth $8.3 billion.

(Reuters) – Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital leads gainers in early trade, climbing as much as 4 percent, after the firm said it could issue IPOs for companies it has invested in.

Citadel said this week it was considering listing two of its firms in the next 12 to 24 months and could raise $175 to $250 million.

Citadel Chairman Ahmed Heikal told Reuters on Wednesday the firm could offer new shares in electricity and natural gas distributor Taqa Arabia in an IPO before June. [ID: nLDE69I0W3]

“The target price is 11.60 Egyptian pounds ($2.01) and it is now trading at 7.80 Egyptian pounds, so the company is performing really well with the target price nearly 50 percent higher,” says Omar Darwish, a trader at CIBC Brokerage.

He says the IPO plans reflected positively on Citadel.

Egypt’s benchmark index <.EGX 30> is up 1 percent.

Barwa Real Estate and Qatar Telecom remain unchanged after posting third-quarter results, as the Doha index <.QSI> is also flat.

Barwa posted a third-quarter net profit of 305.2 million riyals, according to Reuters calculations.

Its shares were trading flat after gaining as much as 1.3 percent on the results.

And Qatar Telecommunications Co (Qtel) on Wednesday posted a third-quarter net profit of 651.9 million riyals ($179.2 million), down 8.3 percent from a year earlier but ahead of an analyst forecast.

Qtel’s stock was unchanged.

“While bounces would not be unusual, we see limited upside potential and highlight the elevated risk at this point,” Shuaa Capital says in a note to investors on Qatar stocks.