Egypt's EFG Hermes turned a profit after tax and minority interests of 538 million Egyptian pounds ($70.51 million) in 2014 after a net loss of 540 million the year before, helped by strong growth in its regional investment banking operations, the bank said on Thursday. The company, one of the Middle East's largest investment banks, said profit was boosted by its core investment banking operations, with revenue growth in fees and commissions from its securities brokerage, asset management and investment banking divisions. Regional operations represented half of those revenues, it said. The bank said net profit after tax and minority interest for the fourth quarter was up 30 percent year-on-year to 131 million pounds. Net operating revenues for the firm were up 19 percent for the year to 2.61 billion pounds, while fee and commission revenues rose 44 percent year-on-year to 951 million pounds. Net profit before minority rights reached 706.99 million pounds versus net loss of 334.98 million pounds in 2013, the company said earlier in a separate statement to the bourse. EFG Hermes is advising Egyptian food maker Edita on a secondary public offering on the Egyptian stock market, part of a flurry of mergers and rights issues that has boosted activity on the exchange. In addition to investment banking, the firm offers brokerage, asset management and private equity units and operates in eight countries across the Middle East. Chief Executive Karim Awad told Reuters last weekend the company would launch a leasing business in Egypt by early May. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/125622.aspx
