Egyptian Resorts pre-tax earnings up 51 pct in Q2
September 7th, 2008 | by admin |CAIRO, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Egyptian Resorts CompanyEGTS.CA made 184.5 million Egyptian pounds ($34.1 million) inearnings before tax in the second quarter of 2008, up 51percent on the same period of 2007, the company said in astatement on Sunday.
Revenues were 60 percent higher at 226.6 million pounds andearnings per share were 21 percent higher at 0.17 pounds, itsaid. The shares opened in Sunday trading at 3.45 pounds.
The company said revenues dropped 7.9 percent in the firstsix months of the year, mainly because of the sale of a plot tosubsidiary Sahl Hasheesh Company in the first quarter.
The weighted average price of the company’s land at SahlHasheesh on the Red Sea coast has risen to $148 a square metrein the first half of 2008 from $78 in 2007, Chief ExecutiveRichard Turner said in the statement.
“Maintaining a healthy price increase is important as weendeavour to preserve an increasing net asset value for ourland,” he added.
Egyptian Resorts, often a popular stock with retailinvestors, has extensive land holdings on the Red Sea. ($1=5.4020 Egyptian pounds) (Writing by Jonathan Wright; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
