CAIRO: Egypt's SODIC said on Wednesday it had made LE 1.8 billion ($313 million) in sales during 2010 so far, showing momentum despite a legal row over state land deals that rattled property investors. SODIC, Egypt's third-biggest listed developer which mostly builds for the high end of the real estate market, has not seen a hit to its sales from legal challenges to state land deals, said Ahmed Dabbous, its chief financial officer. "Sales year-to-date have reached LE 1.8 billion," he told an investor conference call. The figure is LE 200 million more than the firm's previously announced number in October and far outstrips the LE 800 million booked for full-year 2009. Talaat Moustafa, the country's biggest listed developer, has been mired in a legal row over a purchase of land for its flagship Madinaty project since a court said the deal was illegal because the land was not auctioned. The case has sparked concern among investors that other state land sales may be challenged and has prompted several copycat suits challenging state land sales to companies including Palm Hills and Egyptian Resorts. The cabinet had said it would scrap the original TMG deal but would reallocate the land directly to the firm. SODIC, which has little exposure to legal challenges to its land bank, says the government's reaction was effective. "I think the government reacted relatively well. We would feel the impact when our sales are affected and we have not seen that," Dabbous said. SODIC posted a third-quarter net profit of LE 56.7 million this week. Much of the profit came from re-evaluation of land revenues from the firm's recently acquired stake in Syrian real estate firm Palmyra. "This is the first quarter where we are consolidating Syria," Dabbous said, adding that the firm added near LE 33 million to its net income from the Syrian project. The firm plans to launch five projects in the next six months, he said. Two of the projects are in east Cairo. SODIC, in a consortium including Juhayna, is developing a $37 million mall and entertainment centre in Mansoura on the Nile Delta. Dabbous said the firm also aimed to launch that project within the next six months.
