Egyptian Gulf Bank (EGB) got approval from the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) on its plan to increase issued capital through a rights issue of USD32.34 million distributed over 32,341,108 shares at the par value per share of USD1. This capital hike is the first tranche of a planned USD129.26 rights issue that EGB’s EGM approved on January 27, 2016 expected to take place in the upcoming three years. The bank’s number of shares will therefore increase from 255,575,035 to 287,916,143. The capital hike will be funded in USD or its equivalent in EGP according to exchange rate with permission for trading right issue separately from the original share. Existing shareholders as of April 6, 2016 will be entitled to subscribe. The subscription period will run from 10 April to 10 May 2016. EGB’s capital adequacy ratio declined to 11.4% in December 2015, compared to the 10% minimum capital adequacy ratio required by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), and compared to 20.2% in December 2014. The strong capital consumption saw in 2015 was due to strong loan growth during the same period. EGB’s new management team is focused on continuing to grow the bank franchise, and hence, EGB needs to improve its capital adequacy position. (Company disclosure, Elena Sanchez-Cabezudo, Rajae Aadel)   Egyptian Gulf Bank: USD1.30 as of 22 March 2016, Rating: Neutral, FV: USD1.60 per share, MCap: USD332 million, EGBE EY / EGBE.CA