Egypt's biggest listed developer Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) posted a 34 percent slide in third-quarter net profit on Wednesday, the first results from the firm since a legal row over its flagship project erupted. TMG's $3 billion Madinaty project has been mired in a legal row since September when a court upheld a ruling that a sale of state land to TMG was illegal because there was no auction. The court's decision rattled investors and led to copycat challenges to other state land sales. The government scrapped the original contract and said it would return the land to the company under a new deal on the same terms based on its right to act in the national interest. But analysts have been watching for any sign that the drawn-out Madinaty dispute is prompting clients to hold back from buying TMG homes. The firm did not release home reservations or sales for the third quarter, but posted net profit for the first nine months of LE 863.6 million ($150.3 million), down from LE 938.8 million in the same period of 2009. It said third-quarter net profit was LE 201.1 million, compared to LE 304.2 million last year. Building has already started on the Madinaty project, meant to include shops, hotels, homes, schools and a golf course. The plot makes up about two thirds of TMG's land. The firm has said it signed the new contract to replace the scrapped deal on Monday. –Reuters HED: Al Baraka Egypt Bank 9-month profit up 16 percent Al Baraka Egypt Bank posted a 16 percent increase in net profit during the first nine months of this year to LE 95.9 million ($16.7 million), the Cairo stock exchange said on Wednesday. The Cairo-based Islamic bank, in which Bahrain's Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) has a controlling stake, said in August its net profit in the first half rose by 57 percent to LE 65.6 million. It made a net profit of LE 82.9 million in the first nine months of 2009, the stock exchange said. The unit plans to issue a sukuk to raise up to $150 million next year, the group said last month.
