Credit Agricole Egypt said Sunday that the first quarter net profit rose 8.1 per cent from a year earlier to 108 million Egyptian pounds, putting it in the high range of analyst expectations. Five analysts surveyed by Reuters on average projected net profit of 100.6 million pounds, with a range of 81 million to 115 million. The bank, owned 60 per cent by France's Credit Agricole, posted net profit for the first quarter of 2009 of 99.9 million pounds. Loans to customers climbed to 8.88 billion pounds from 8.29 billion pounds in the three months to March 31, while customer deposits slid to 19.43 billion pounds from 19.71 bilion pounds. The mean forecast by four analysts for loans was 8.65 billion pounds and for deposits 20.45 billion pounds.
