CAIRO - An Egyptian court on Wednesday delayed until Aug. 1 an appeal over the sale of 8,000 feddans (8,304 acres) of Madinaty land for Talaat Moustafa Group's (TMG) flagship residential and commercial project. A court ruled last month that the New Urban Communities Authority, a body under the Housing Ministry, broke the law by selling the land directly to a TMG unit and not opening it up to bidding, and the contract should be scrapped. The authority appealed the decision, and both the firm and the housing minister have said building would continue on the Madinaty project on Cairo's outskirts. The appeal was due to be heard on Wednesday, but the High Administrative Court transferred it to a state authority to prepare a legal report that would be sent back to the court before the session, Judge Moustafa Hanafy said. A spokesman for Talaat Moustafa was not immediately available to comment. Investment bank Deutsche Bank has said the likelihood of a negative outcome of the court case was 50 per cent, while another analyst said he saw little chance that the ruling would survive an appeal. The developer said the ruling could slow residential sales at the project and hurt the company's share price, but the effects would be short-term. Madinaty will include homes, schools, shops, hotels and a golf course, the company says. Construction on the land is underway and many homes are already sold. Shares in Talaat Moustafa closed up 0.5 per cent, in line with Egypt's main index .EGX30.
