Moroccan drugmaker Promopharm plans IPO

RABAT, May 22 (Reuters) - Moroccan drugmaker Promopharm SA aims to raise up to 237.6 million dirhams ($28.54 million) in an initial public offering, the second listing on the Casablanca stock market this year, the company said on Tuesday. Promopharm will offer 270,045 shares representing 27 percent of the company's capital at between 800 and 880 dirhams each, with the subscription period set for May 30 to June 5, it said in a statement.

Separate blocks of shares will be made available to small investors and institutions. The IPO's lead manager is local bank BMCE.

According to its listing documents, Promopharm has 286 employees and produces medicines under its own brand and under licence from other drugmakers. Turnover rose 6 percent to 297 million dirhams last year while net profit climbed 9 percent to 39.9 million dirhams.

Ten companies listed in Casablanca in 2006, three times as many as in recent years, as money poured into local saving funds and treasury yields fell to record lows.

The benchmark MASI index soared 71 percent in 2006 and had risen a further 33 percent until this month, when it tumbled as much as 17 percent on concern that stocks were expensive against even the most optimistic forecasts for corporate earnings.

Analysts are hoping the pace of IPOs will pick up for the rest of the year, helping soak up strong demand for equities and cooling the market.

((Reporting by Tom Pfeiffer, editing by Quentin Bryar; +212 3772 6518; fax: +212 3772 2499; thomas.pfeiffer@reuters.com))

($1=8.324 Moroccan Dirham) Keywords: PROMOPHARM IPO

(C) Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution ofReuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expresslyprohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuterssphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group ofcompanies around the world.nL22276374