CAIRO: EFG-Hermes, Egypt's biggest investment bank, said on Wednesday fourth-quarter net profit tumbled 62.2 percent from a year earlier, as market conditions slumped further and 2011 would be difficult. Fourth quarter net profit fell to LE 32 million ($5.36 million) from 84.6 million in 2009 as revenue from two of its biggest market-based activities, brokerage and investment banking, declined. These activities were unlikely to improve in 2011, it indicated. "Market conditions deteriorated significantly in 2011 as a result of the EGX (Egyptian stock exchange) closing," EFG-Hermes said in its earnings statement, without elaborating. EFG-Hermes said its brokerage revenue fell by LE 16.3 million year-on-year in the fourth quarter and its investment banking fees and commissions by LE 19 million. This year, Egypt's stock market was closed for more than seven weeks during the protests that ousted president Hosni Mubarak, reopening only on March 23. The political turmoil in Egypt over the last two months has weakened the country's economic outlook and its currency, and analysts say political uncertainty may continue to drag down share prices in the coming months. The bank said its assets under management rose to $5.61 billion as of Dec. 31 from $5.47 billion as of Oct. 31.
