CAIRO: El Sewedy Cables, listed on the stock exchange in May, reported a net income of LE 256 million ($45 million) for the first half of 2006, the stock exchange said on Monday. The results were the first by the cable manufacturer since major shareholders sold 30 million shares, or half of the company, in May through a private placing on the stock exchange. Comparison figures were not immediately available. El Sewedy, in a statement published on the stock exchange s Web site (www.egyptse.com), also reported revenues of LE 2.4 billion for the period. The company said it was also expecting to start work soon on a power cables factory in Saudi Arabia, and production was expected to begin by mid-2007. In 2005, the company had revenues of LE 3.17 billion and made a gross profit of LE 466 million and net profit of 330 million pounds. El Sewedy is one of the two biggest cable manufacturers in the Middle East, with factories in Egypt, Sudan and Syria. It expects to increase its production capacity to 113,890 tons a year by the end of 2006. Investment bank EFG-Hermes last month issued short and long-term buy recommendations for El Sewedy shares, setting its fair value estimate at LE 58.70 per share. The share price was up 5 percent at LE 34.67 by 120:0 GMT on Monday. Reuters
Sewedy Cables posts $45 million H1 net income
