CAIRO: Cairo-based EFG-Hermes Holdings said on Sunday its unaudited 2005 net profit had risen by about 560 percent to between LE 348 million and LE 356 million ($60.73 million and $62.13 million). The firm, which earned LE 52 million in net profit in 2004, said in a statement posted on the Egyptian bourse s Web site that the results were unaudited because of uncertainty over how the firm s operations abroad would be taxed. Operating profit rose to LE 524 million from LE 90 million in 2004, EFG-Hermes added in the statement. One analyst said the results were positive but many investors were expecting more considering the firm s expansion into the Gulf and its involvement in high-profile deals in Egypt over the past year. EFG-Hermes helped to manage the Telecom Egypt private placement late last year. Analysts said at the time that the firm made a lot of money from the deal. The results are obviously very good but honestly people were expecting a higher figure, said Yasser Hassanein of Dynamic Securities. We will have to wait and see what the market makes of the results, he added. By the end of Sunday s trading session EFG-Hermes had fallen 12.85 points, or 8.2 percent, to 143.75 points. The benchmark Hermes index ended the session down 4.3 percent. Traders said EFG-Hermes fell during the session because investors who had bought shares in a capital increase were expected to sell when the shares began to trade, dragging down the stock price. Reuters
