Egypt's EFG-Hermes to return $122 million to shareholders

Egypt's EFG-Hermes plans to distribute 1.08 billion Egyptian pounds ($122 million) to shareholders and step up its growth strategy after selling a 40 percent stake in Lebanese lender Credit Libanais, it said on Sunday.

Having completed the $310 million stake sale last week, Egypt's largest investment bank will reward its shareholders in cash and share buybacks while also pursuing plans to boost capital reserves at subsidiaries in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and possibly Saudi Arabia.

"We will be required to enhance capital structure, meet capital adequacy requirements and embrace opportunities as they appear by injecting capital in our subsidiaries," EFG-Hermes said in a bourse statement.

EFG-Hermes also said it plans to expand its assets under management. The company is studying several projects that would require capital deployment in the coming months, it said, and is also eyeing new markets.

"We have started a due diligence process for the acquisition of a Pakistani entity and we believe there are more geographies that could offer great opportunities, including Morocco, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Kenya," the company said.