Ezz Heads for Biggest Gain in 2 Weeks After Declaring Dividend

Ezz Steel (ESRS), Egypt’s largest publicly traded manufacturer of the metal, headed for the biggest gain in almost two weeks after announcing it will pay a cash dividend.

The shares of the Cairo-based company increased 2.7 percent to 6.06 Egyptian pounds, poised for the biggest daily gain since Sept. 20 at 1:25 p.m. in Cairo. Egypt’s benchmark EGX 30 Index (EGX30) gained 1.6 percent.

Ezz said today it will pay a 25 piaster-dividend per share Oct. 16 for shareholders as of Oct. 11. The company had a 2010 profit of 252 million Egyptian pounds ($42 million) compared with 88 million pounds a year earlier.