Egypt's TMG 1Q Net Pft Up 2.5% On Yr As Sales Rebound

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

(This story was originally published Tuesday.)

CAIRO (Zawya Dow Jones)--Talaat Moustafa Group Holding (TMGH.CI), Egypt's biggest property developer by market value, said its net profit in the first quarter rose 2.5% as sales rebounded after a tough last year due to political upheaval in the country.

The company made a net profit of 173.7 million Egyptian pounds ($28.8 million) in the first three months of the year, up from EGP169.4 million a year earlier, TMG said in a statement posted on the Egyptian bourse website.

Sales rose sharply to EGP1.08 billion in the first quarter, from EGP568 million in the same period last year, the statement said. But total revenue in the first quarter declined to EGP1.30 billion, from EGP1.37 billion a year earlier.

The results show "a situation that we consider good in the current local economic and political situation," Hany Samy, an analyst at CI Capital, said in a note to clients. CI maintains a strong buy recommendation on the stock.

Property companies in Egypt have been among the hardest hit amid economic turmoil following the uprising last year that ousted former president Hosni Mubarak.

TMG shares last traded down 0.7% at EGP4.34 Tuesday.

-By Farah Halime; Contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; +20111 4994453

Fhalime@gmail.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

16-05-12 0351GMT