Public Offering Of Nile Pharmaceuticals

The Egyptian National Company for Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals and Medical Supplies is offering the public 10% of its subsidiary Nile Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals, valued at a minimum of EL13.5 million ($3.9 million). The offer for the company's 300,000 shares, at a minimum of EL45 ($13) each, will open today (May 15) and it is felt that the initial offer will probably be oversubscribed 15-fold.

The company forecast a EL30 million pretax profits for the 1995/96 financial year. In 1993/94, Nile Pharmaceuticals doubled net profit to EL16.7 million from EL8.2 million a year earlier. Current figures are not available. Turnover for 1993/94 totalled EL165.9 million, up 13.5%. Long-term debt has been cut for 1994 to EL51.1 million from EL54.8 million in 1993.

Nile Pharmaceuticals is one of two state-owned chemical and pharmaceutical firms to be partly sold to the public recently. The initial offer for Alexandria Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries was oversubscribed 25 times, according to brokers. In 1993, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank launched a reform program that includes privatization of the country's state-dominated economy, but progress has been slow.