Iowa Fertilizer Company LLC (Iowa Fertilizer), a wholly owned subsidiary of Orascom Construction Industries (OCIC.CA), announced on Thursday that it has issued approximately US$ 1.2 billion of bonds to institutional and retail investors in the US tax-exempt market through the Iowa Finance Authority. The bond proceeds will be used to finance the cost to develop and construct a new US$ 1.8 billion greenfield nitrogen-based fertilizer complex in Wever, Iowa, representing the largest investment in Iowa’s history. The facility is the first world-scale nitrogen fertilizer facility to be constructed in the United States in more than 20 years and will produce up to 2.0 million metric tons of urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), urea, ammonia and diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) annually upon completion.  The plant is expected to begin production during Q4 2015.          The bond issuance transaction is rated BB- by both Standard & Poor’s (S&P) and Fitch and represents the largest non-investment grade transaction ever sold in the US tax-exempt market. This successful transaction was well-received in the market with US$ 3.5 billion of orders from more than 75 major institutional investors. Many of the largest fixed income money managers in the world participated in the transaction, including tax-exempt mutual funds, insurance companies and hedge funds. More»

EFG-Hermes Holding SAE (HRHO.CA), Egypt’s largest investment bank, said it will sell assets and cut costs after an agreement to create the largest Arab investment bank with Qatar’s QInvest LLC collapsed because of regulatory delays. The Cairo and Doha-based banks said late yesterday the planned joint venture ended after they reached a 12-month deadline without approval from the Egyptian Financial Services Authority. EFG will sell “non-core” assets and return most of the cash to shareholders as it seeks to cut costs by 35 percent. “It will be hard for QInvest to build an investment banking platform that the EFG deal could have offered,” Jaap Meijer, Dubai-based director of equity research at Arqaam Capital, said yesterday in a telephone interview. “EFG will now try to protect its bottom line, while QInvest will probably focus on its key strength, which is commercial banking.” QInvest, a unit of Qatar Islamic Bank, and EFG-Hermes planned to create a bank with operations in the Middle East, Africa and Turkey, as well as southern and southeastern Asia. The joint venture plan included EFG Hermes’ main investment banking, asset management and brokerage businesses, and excluded its private equity and Credit Libanais SAL units. More»

EFG Hermes (HRHO.CA), the leading investment bank in the Arab world, and QInvest, Qatar’s leading investment bank, announced on Wednesday that the long-stop date for the satisfaction of the conditions precedent for their joint venture agreement to proceed had been reached without receiving the necessary regulatory approvals from Egypt’s financial regulator - the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA). As a result of the long stop date being reached, the joint venture agreement will automatically terminate. The parties received the necessary financial services regulatory approvals in all other markets in which the joint venture was initially to operate including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, among others. EFG Hermes and QInvest co-operated fully with all regulators, met all of their requirements and exercised the utmost diligence in addressing any regulatory requests in a timely and comprehensive manner. Both institutions look forward to separately creating value for their shareholders and remain open going forward to capitalizing on their complementary strengths to pursue together suitable business opportunities in a less-structured framework. More»

OCI N.V.’s subsidiary, Orascom Construction Industries S.A.E. (OCIC.CA), announced on Tuesday its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2012. Summary of Consolidated Results for Q4 2012: • Consolidated revenues increased 5.3% to US$ 1,492.9 million (EGP 9,088.2 million) versus US$ 1,418.4 million (EGP 8,484.9 million) in Q4 2011 • EBITDA decreased 14.9% to US$ 290.2 million (EGP 1,767.6 million) versus US$ 341.0 million (EGP 2,041.0 million) in Q4 2011  • Consolidated EBITDA margin of 19.4% and Construction Group EBITDA margin of 8.2% during Q4 2012 • Net income decreased 165.3% to a loss of US$ 81.2 million (a loss of EGP 487.4 million) versus US$ 124.4 million (EGP 746.9 million) in Q4 2011 and was impacted by extraordinary charges of US$ 181.2 million (EGP 1,087.2 million). These charges included:  - a one-off US$ 82.0 million in additional interest expense related to delayed interest payments on the agreed to tax settlement with the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) for the years 2007-2010 - a one-off US$ 99.2 million goodwill impairment for Egyptian Fertilizer Company (EFC) in light of the natural gas supply environment in Egypt More»

Gold prices rose Wednesday in electronic trading, with investors anticipating a continuation of monetary stimulus by the U.S. Federal Reserve and possible fresh stimulus from the European Central Bank. Gold for June delivery  rose $2.10, or 0.1%, to $1,474.20 an ounce during Asian trading hours. On Tuesday, gold logged its seventh win in nine sessions, climbing $4.70, or 0.3%, on expectations that the Fed later Wednesday will say it’ll keep making $85 billion a month in asset purchases. At the end of its two-day monetary-policy meeting later Wednesday, the Fed may be more downbeat about the outlook for the U.S. economy following a round of weaker-than-expected domestic data. More»

Orascom Construction Industries (OCIC.CA), announced on Tuesday that it will pay the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) ten installments during 2013- 2017 totaling EGP 7.1 billion less EGP 182 million in existing tax credits to end a dispute regarding tax claims for the years 2007 to 2010. The payments shall start with an initial payment of EGP 2.5 billion within the coming weeks, EGP 900 million in December 2013, six equal installments of EGP 450 million and two final installments of EGP 500 million in 2017 totaling the agreed to EGP 7.1 billion. The settlement amount was reached following months of challenging negotiations. In conjunction with this agreement, the ETA has determined that there was no tax evasion by the Company and is exonerating management and the Company from any wrongdoing related to the transaction. More»

OCI N.V.’s subsidiary, Orascom Construction Industries (OCIC.CA), announced on Tuesday that it will pay the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) ten instalments during 2013- 2017 totalling EGP 7.1 billion less EGP 182 million in existing tax credits to end a dispute regarding tax claims for the years 2007 to 2010. During that period, OCI SAE divested its cement business through the sale of a listed subsidiary, Orascom Building Materials Holding (OBMH). The agreed amount is based on the originally disclosed tax claim by the ETA of EGP 4.7 billion including accrued interest and delay fees. The payments shall start with an initial payment of EGP 2.5 billion in Q2 2013, EGP 900 million in December 2013, six equal instalments of EGP 450 million and two final instalments of EGP 500 million in 2017 totalling the agreed to EGP 7.1 billion. OCI N.V. will loan its subsidiary OCI S.A.E., the Egypt listed company, the necessary funds required for the tax settlement through intercompany loans to be coordinated and channelled into the country through the Central Bank of Egypt. The settlement amount was reached following months of challenging negotiations. In conjunction with this agreement, the ETA has determined that there was no tax evasion by the Company and is exonerating management and the Company from any wrongdoing related to the transaction. More»

OPEC member Iraq has agreed in principle to offer cash-strapped Egypt 4 million barrels of crude a month on a three-month credit term, in a move that could ease the fuel shortage that has recently hit the Egyptian economy, officials from the two countries said Monday. The officials told Dow Jones Newswires that Baghdad would supply Cairo with 2 shipments of Basra light crude each month at international prices but the payment will be deferred for three months with no interests incurred. The first cargo is expected in Egypt next month once the deal is finalized, they said. The value of the deal is close to $400 million a month, based on current market prices. "We were very keen to get the supplies on 9-month credit but the Iraqis said they won't be able to do so," an Egyptian official who asked not to be named said. More»

The U.S. dollar fell further in Asian trading Monday, losing further steam in the wake of Friday’s weaker-than-expected economic-growth number and caution ahead of what is expected to be a busy week of data and monetary-policy decisions. The ICE dollar index , a measure of the greenback’s moves against six other major currencies, eased to 82.304 from 82.484 in North America on Friday. The WSJ dollar index , a rival gauge of the currency’s moves against a slightly wider basket, edged down to 73.41 from 73.65. “Foreign-exchange market activity will remain hesitant ahead of key events this week, but overall, it appears the U.S. dollar will lose further wind out of its sails as U.S. bond yields continue to drop,” said Crédit Agricole head of global foreign-exchange strategy Mitul Kotecha. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped 4 basis points to 1.671% on Friday, along with a drop in yields on other longer- and shorter-maturity securities, after data showing the U.S. economy expanded 2.5% in the first quarter, weaker than the 3.2% growth expected by economists. More»

Crude-oil futures fell in electronic trade Monday, extending their retreat sparked by Friday’s disappointing U.S. economic-growth data. Benchmark U.S. crude-oil for June delivery  fell 41 cents, or 0.4%, to $92.59 a barrel, after having lost 64 cents during Friday’s New York Mercantile Exchange floor session. Data showing U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product rising at a 2.5% annual rate helped spark Friday’s losses, as the result missed expectations for a 3.2% gain. The disappointing data continued its drag on crude oil Monday, but analysts at Citi Futures said the U.S. growth rate wasn’t necessarily such an accurate gauge of the nation’s oil demand. “In fact, in the seven consecutive quarters through the end of 2012, GDP was growing and petroleum demand was shrinking — the U.S. economy was becoming more energy efficient,” they wrote Friday. More»