The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) launched its new EGX 30 TR index to measure the performance of the market and to meet the needs of wide variety of investors. EGX held a ringing of bell ceremony to celebrate the new Index in the presence of EGX’s chairman, National Investment Bank and selective capital market associations.
The index is developed as per international best practices in the field of index industry and includes top 30 companies in terms of liquidity and activity and it is weighted by the adjusted free floated market capitalization. EGX 30 TR avoids concentration on one industry/sector and therefore has a good representation of various industries/sectors in the economy.
EGX started publishing EGX 30 TR with a base date of 01 February 2009 and a base value of 1000 points. EGX 30 TR Index measures the total return on the underlying index, combining both capital performance and reinvested income using declared dividends. The index calculation depends on last price instead of the closing price.
It is adjusted by the value of ordinary cash dividends allocated to the company. Thus, the weight of the company will increase as a result of reinvested income returns. Consequently, the change in the value of the index not only reflects the change in prices, but also the value of distributed dividends. In light of this, Total return index will have higher return than capital index on the Ex-Dividend date.
Mohamed Farid Saleh, EGX’s chairman, said that EGX 30 TR index should help investors measure the total return on their investments in EGX, which not only includes the price change but also includes cash dividends distribution.
He added that this comes as a continuation of EGX’s efforts to develop its tools and products to meet investors’ needs. EGX 30 TR index along with the rest of EGX Index family should give a diversified measuring tools to the market.
EGX 30 TR is governed by EGX Index Committee, an independent committee consisting of representatives from market participants, fund managers and banks, and chaired by EGX Chairman. The committee is responsible for overseeing the ongoing management of the current indices including development, marketing and periodic review procedures. It holds its meetings twice per year to review all EGX Indices. Additionally the committee provides advice on the construction and methodology of new indices.