CAIRO: Sixth of October Development and Investment Company (SODIC) signed a LE 300 million deal with Bonyan Development and Trading Company - a subsidiary of Citadel Capital - whereby Bonyan bought 116,824 square meters of SODIC s west Cairo land for the development of a state-of-the-art furniture and accessories strip mall. The land was valued at LE 2,250 per square meter. Under the terms of the contract, Bonyan is to build and operate the mall within the next 12 months. The project comprises 12 showrooms flanking the highway and 86 retail shops. By virtue of the new deal, SODIC is expected to post a gross profit of LE 238 million, recording a net present value of LE 192 million. According to HC Securities brokerage firm, this latest development brings SODIC's net income forecast upwards for the 2007 fiscal year to LE 392.4 million - up from the previous estimate of LE 195.5 million and up 73.1 percent from LE 226.7 million in the 2006 fiscal year. SODIC posted a net income of LE 50.52 million in the first quarter of 2007 versus a net loss of LE 2.1 million in the same quarter last year. Indeed, this year has been a busy one for SODIC, which signed a landmark agreement to co-develop two projects in Cairo with Lebanon s Solidere real estate giant. One project is in the Sixth of October/Sheikh Zayed City. The other project is in Katameya on an 8.6 million square feet site near the new American University in Cairo. According to SODIC, the projects will be developed over five years with a total investment of over $1.4 billion.
