Tuesday, May 15, 2012

0843 GMT [Zawya Dow Jones]--Cairo-based investment bank Beltone Financial says that Orascom Telecom's 1Q results surprised positively on all levels, with the net profit coming in at $116 million, beating its $38 million estimate. This was on the back of stronger than expected revenue and EBITDA performances, in addition to a foreign exchange gain of $43 million, mainly due to the appreciation of Canadian dollar against the Egyptian pound. "We like the healthy q-o-q growth in Algeria and its operational performance in 1Q, on all levels, despite the challenges the operation is facing currently, as its revenues, net subscriber additions and EBITDA emerged better than foreseen," it says. However, expects Djezzy's current complicated status to continue to be in investor focus, and consequently, "it should overshadow the strong 1Q results." OT closed 0.9% down on Monday at EGP3.35.

(shereen.elgazzar@dowjones.com)

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15-05-12 0843GMT