Glossary
“alphabetical order”

A


Acquisition:


Acquiring control of one corporation by another.
 

Annual Report:


Listed companies issue an annual report that includes the financial statement for a former year. The report shows assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses and earnings. The report also shows the company's financial position at the end of the business year and any other useful information for shareholders.
 

Asset:


Anything a company owns, including cash investments and property..
 

B


Balance Sheet:


A condensed financial statement at a particular date (e.g. 31/12) showing the nature and amount of a company's assets, liabilities and capital.
 

Bear Market:


A condition when prices of stocks, in the stock market, are generally declining.
 

Bid and Ask:


The bid is the highest price anyone wants to pay for a security at a given time. The ask is the lowest price anyone will take at the same time.
 

Blue-Chip Stock:


A stock with a reputation for quality, reliability and the ability to operate profitably in good and bad times.
 

Board of Directors:


The Board of Directors are elected by shareholders, during a General Assembly Meeting, to manage the corporation for a given term. The Board of Directors decide, among other matters, if and when dividends shall be paid.
 

Bond:


A bond is an evidence of debt on which the issuing company usually promises to pay the bondholder a specified amount of interest for a specified length of time, and to repay the loan on the expiration date. A bondholder is a creditor of the corporation, not a part owner, as is the shareholder.
 

Book Value:


An accounting term. The book value of a stock is determined from the company's records, through deducting total liabilities from total assets. The outcome is then divided by the number of common shares outstanding.
 

Member Firm:


It is a company that has the license to perform their activities in the stock market. Members include brokerage firms, primary dealers, custodians and market makers
 

Bull Market:


A condition when prices of stocks are generally rising.
 

C


Capital Gain:


Profit made on securities, by selling the securities for a higher price than they originally were bought for.
 

Closing Price:


The closing price of a security traded on EGX is the weighted average price which is equal to the total value traded of the security divided by the total volume traded of the same security.
 

Current Liabilities:


Money owed and payable by a company, usually within one year. e.g. Accounts payable, wages payable, dividends payable etc.
 

D

Diversification:


A strategy of spreading investments among different securities or sectors to reduce the risk of owning one single investment
 

Dividend:


Are profits distributed proportionally among shareholders depending on the company’s profits and availability of liquidity, however the Board of Directors may decide not to distribute profits and to re-invest it in other expansionary projects or to buy other assets.
 

Dividend Yield:


In stocks, the amount of money returned to investors on their investments. It is equal to dividends per share divided by the market price of the share.
 

E

EGX 30 Index:


EGX 30 Index, previously known as CASE 30 Index, is an index that includes the top companies in terms of liquidity and activity.. EGX 30 is a market capitalization weighted index whereby the market capitalization of the index constituents is adjusted by the free float i.e. multiplying market capitalization of each constituent times the percent of free float of each constituent.
 

F

Face Value:


The value of a bond that appears on the face of the bond. Face value is ordinarily the amount the issuing company promises to pay at maturity. Sometimes referred to as par value (see Par Value).
 

Fiscal Year:


A corporation’s accounting year. Due to the nature of that particular business, some companies do not use the calendar year for their bookkeeping. The fiscal year of some companies may run from July 1 through the following June 30. Most companies, though, operate on a calendar year basis (1 January - 31 December).
 

FRA:


The Financial Regulatory Authority established in July 2009, replacing the Egyptian Insurance Supervisory Authority, the Capital Market Authority, and the Mortgage Finance Authority. FRA is responsible for the supervision of non-bank financial markets and instruments, including the Capital Market, the Derivative Exchange as well as all activities related to Insurance Services, Mortgage Finance, Financial Leasing, Factoring and Securitization.
 

Free Float %:


Free float % means the portion of freely floated shares that are traded and held by the public at large.
 

Free-Floated Shares:


Free-floated shares are all shares of the company listed on the Egyptian Exchange that are available for sale or purchase by public, after excluding shares held for long term investment or held in compliance with certain legal rules (founders' shares, shares frozen in accordance with listing rules, pledged shares..... etc). Shares are considered free-floated shares if it represents less than 10% as well as being non-held for retaining. Worth mentioning that the shares of the Egyptian listed companies owned by the foreign depository banks in the form of Global or American depository receipts are not considered free floated shares as they are not available for trading in the Egyptian market.
 

Fundamental Analysis:


It includes industry and company analysis in terms of sales, assets, profits, products or services, markets and management, to reach conclusions concerning stock fair value, decisions to sell, buy or keep stocks. it also takes into consideration gross national product, interest rates, unemployment and savings etc.
 

G

GDR:


A Global Depositary Receipt or GDR is a security issued by a Depository Bank, such as Bank of New York or Deutsche Bank, in USD or any other foreign currency and is backed by local shares, thereby facilitating the trading of those Egyptian shares in the form of GDRs by international investors, on global markets, such as London.
 

H

Holding Company:


A corporation that owns the securities of another, in most cases with voting control rights.
 

I

Income Statement:


A report on a company's financial status over a period of time. It shows revenues earned, expenses incurred, profits and losses.
 

Index:


An index is a numerical value used to measure changes in financial markets. The index is set at a numerical level e.g. 1000 on the base period or starting point against which a percentage change can be compared to at any particular point of time. Indices often serve as barometers for a given market or sector and benchmarks against which financial or economic performance is measured
 

Inflation Rate:


An important economic indicator. It is the rate at which prices are rising.
 

Institutional Investor:


An organization whose primary purpose is to invest its own funds or those held in trust by it for others. Includes pension funds, investment companies, mutual funds, insurance companies, banks.
 

Investment Bank:


Also known as an underwriter, the “middleman” between a corporation issuing new securities and the public.
 

Investment Company:


A company that uses its capital to invest in other companies.
 

Investment Portfolio:


A variety of securities owned by an individual or an institution.
 

ISIN Code:


ISIN means International Securities Identification Number. It is a unique international code which identifies a securities issue.
 

L

Liabilities:


All the claims against a corporation. Liabilities include accounts, wages and salaries payable; dividends declared payable; accrued taxes payable; fixed or long-term liabilities, such as mortgage bonds, debentures and bank loans.
 

Liquidity:


The ability to easily turn assets into cash. An investor should be able to sell a liquid asset quickly with a little effect on its price.
 

Listed Stock:


The stock of a company that is traded on a securities exchange. Stock exchanges have different listing rules.
 

M

Market Price:


The last reported price at which the stock or bond sold, or the current quote.
 

Maturity Date:


The date that a bond comes due and must be paid off.
 

Member or Broker:


A securities brokerage firm, organized as a corporation, which is allowed to trade on EGX.
 

Merger:


Combination of two or more corporations.
 

O

Offer:


The price at which a person is ready to sell. Opposed to bid, the price at which one is ready to buy.
 

OTC:


This term may refer to transactions over-the-counter market in unlisted securities. The OTC market in Egypt is divided into two markets: Deals Market and Orders Market.
 

P

Par Value:


Equal to the nominal or face value of a security.
 

Price-Earnings Ratio:


A popular way to compare stocks selling at various price levels. The Price Earnings Ratio or P/E ratio is the price of a share of stock divided by earnings per share for a twelve-month period.
 

Prospectus:


A document that provides details about a new offering of securities for sale to the public. It gives a detailed financial background of the issuing company, how the proceeds of the securities will be used, and other important information investors will need to make an informed decision.
 

Public Offering:


When a company sells shares to the public to raise capital.
 

R

Recession:


A period of no or negative economic growth and high unemployment.
 

Redemption Price:


The price at which a bond may be redeemed at maturity.
 

Rights Issue:


When a company wants to raise more funds by issuing additional securities, it may give its current stockholders the opportunity, or option ahead of others, to buy the new securities in proportion to the number of shares that each one owns. This process is done at an exercise price which is usually lower than the current market price. In most cases they must be exercised within a relatively short period. Failure to exercise or sell rights may result in monetary loss to the holder.
 

S

Secondary Market:


When stocks or bonds are traded between buyers and sellers (and not the issuing company and buyers as in the primary market), they are said to be traded on the secondary market.
 

Settlement:


Conclusion of securities transaction when a client pays a broker for securities purchased or delivers securities sold and receives from the broker the proceeds of a sale settlement period.
 

Stock Split :


A process that results in increasing the number of company’s shares that constitutes the capital, without increasing the ownership rights. This leads to decreasing the market value of the stock. For example, a 2-for-1 split by a company with 1 million shares outstanding and a market price of LE 100 results in 2 million shares outstanding and a market price is LE 50. A reverse split would reduce the number of shares outstanding and each share would be worth more.
 

Stock Dividend:


A dividend paid in securities rather than cash. The dividend is usually additional shares of the issuing company.
 

T

Technical Analysis:


Studying past trends to predict future price movements and supply and demand quantities.
 

Ticker:


A telegraphic system that continuously provides last prices, volumes and number of transactions.
 

Transfer of Ownership:


It is a two-step process. The first step, the delivery of a stock certificates from the seller’s broker to the buyer’s broker and legal change of ownership, normally accomplished within a few days after trade date. Then is to record the change of ownership on the books of the corporation by the transfer agent.
 

Treasury Stock:


Stocks that the issuing company rebuy from the market. Treasury stock receives no dividend and has no vote while held by the company.
 

Turnover Ratio:


It is a ratio calculated by dividing Shares’ value traded by the market capitalization of listed shares.