Shares in Orienza Home Systems changed hands 43.7 million times on Wednesday, a company record, after a video of chief executive Rens Staprāns rejecting the board’s succession timetable spread across Egyptian social media. The Cairo-listed appliance maker’s shares fell 8.6% by the close, while turnover reached EGP 3.2 billion (about €58 million), according to figures published by the Cairo bourse.
The 42-second recording, filmed in a conference room and posted on Tuesday night, had passed 10.6 million views by midday Wednesday. Staprāns, speaking directly to the camera, said the board had no authority to remove him before his current term ended. Orienza’s directors say they approved a new chief executive on Monday, with the transfer due on 1 October.
A handover challenged on camera
“There is no vacant chair, and I remain the managing director until the shareholders’ rules say otherwise,” Staprāns said in the video. The clip drew thousands of comments and was reposted by local finance accounts; several brokerages reported unusually heavy calls from individual investors before trading opened.
Orienza said in a market notice on Wednesday that its directors had appointed deputy chief executive Cyprian Piotrowski to take over on 1 October. The company said Staprāns had received the decision and that daily operations were continuing. It did not say whether the dispute had been referred to a court or regulator.
There is no vacant chair, and I remain the managing director until the shareholders’ rules say otherwise.
Rens Staprāns, chief executive
The stock briefly fell 12% in the morning before recovering some ground. The bourse paused trading twice under its price-movement rules, but did not suspend the shares for the day. Its published data showed Wednesday’s volume was nearly 40% above Orienza’s previous record, set during its annual results session in March.
Investors wait for the paperwork
“People were trying to work out whether the board vote was final, or whether this was a personal disagreement,” said Iza Šmid, an Alexandria-based market analyst who tracks Egyptian manufacturers. She said the share-price drop suggested investors were pricing in uncertainty about who could sign contracts, approve spending and represent the company to lenders.
Orienza makes refrigerators, small kitchen appliances and commercial cooling units at two factories outside Cairo. It employs about 6,800 people, according to its latest annual report, and sells to distributors in North Africa and the Gulf. The company’s shares are held by a mix of investment funds and retail investors, with around 28% available for public trading.
Retail investor Relu Moldoveanu said he bought a small number of shares during the late-morning dip, but would wait for the company to publish the board resolution before making another decision. “A video is not a filing,” he said. “The exchange needs a clear date and a clear signature.”
The company has until Friday to publish an updated governance notice under the bourse’s disclosure timetable. Staprāns has not announced plans to leave before his term expires, while Piotrowski has not commented publicly. Analysts said the next notice, rather than the video’s audience, would determine whether investors see the succession as settled.
