Talaat Moustafa Group, Egypt’s biggest listed developer, posted a 3.2 percent rise in first-quarter net profit after it recognized more revenue from completed homes and a pickup in tourism helped its hotels.
The firm on Wednesday posted net profit of LE 324.1 million ($57.8 million), below an average forecast of LE 367 million provided by five analysts, but within the range of LE 250 million to LE 597 million.
Revenue from its hotel business jumped 11 percent and from finished homes 3 percent, boosting overall revenue to LE 1.6 billion, it said.
"The tourism market is gradually recovering from the effect of the financial crisis on tourism flow and tourists spending," the company said.
The company made a net profit of LE 314.0 million in the first quarter of 2009.
Talaat Moustafa does not fully recognize revenue from most home sales until the units are handed over to the customer, meaning financial results do not fully reflect the company’s activities.
Many homes in Egypt are sold off-plan, or before construction, and buyers can wait as long as five years before they move in.
In April Talaat Moustafa said it had sold LE 1.2 billion of real estate units in the first quarter of 2010, up 172 percent on a year earlier.
This week it said it had won approval to sell homes off-plan in its Nasamat Al Riyadh project in Saudi Arabia.
