CAIRO: Banque du Caire, a state-owned Egyptian bank contemplating partial privatisation, said on Sunday its net profit for the first quarter of 2019 had tripled to 1.22 billion Egyptian pounds ($73 million).

It reported a profit of 407 million pounds for the same quarter of 2018.

Banque du Caire said in April it aimed to raise $300-400 million by selling between 20 and 30 percent of its shares in an initial public offering (IPO) by the end of 2019, depending on market conditions. 

A deal to sell the bank was cancelled in 2008, and a planned IPO has been repeatedly postponed over the past three years.

($1 = 16.7455 Egyptian pounds)

(Reporting by Ehab Farouk, writing by Patrick Werr. Editing by Jane Merriman) ((patrick.werr@thomsonreuters.com;))