CAIRO: Egypt-based investment bank EFG-Hermes said on Tuesday its net income rose five-fold to LE 208 million ($36.1 million) in the first quarter of 2006. The income figure was about in line with the lower expectations of analysts, who had predicted variously LE 200 million, LE 212 million and LE 300 million. It compares with LE 41.4 million in the first quarter of 2005 and LE 350 million for the whole of 2005. EFG-Hermes said the company had benefited during the quarter from the acquisition of 23 percent of Lebanon s Banque Audi , which contributed LE 41.8 million to total revenues. The quarterly figures do not include the revenue from two major deals, worth $950 million, by its investment banking team in Dubai, it added. The company s operating revenues rose to LE 303 million from LE 104 million and net operating profit rose to LE 228 million from LE 63 million, the statement said. It noted that income increased despite the declines in many regional stock markets during the January-March period. Our high-quality fee-based revenue stream ... did not suffer from any fluctuations arising from declines, it said. The company shares were trading on the Egyptian exchange at LE 52.20 at 10:00 GMT, about 3.5 percent down. Reuters
