Egypt's largest listed investment bank, EFG-Hermes, reported a 39 per cent rise in first-quarter profit after tax and minority interest on Monday to 348.5 million Egyptian pounds ($65 million).

Total consolidated revenue rose 47.8 percent to 664.5 million pounds from a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Net operating profit rose more than one-aand-half times to 399 million pounds.

'The results are generally in line with expectations,' said Germaine Benyamin, senior financial analyst at HC Brokerage.

EFG-Hermes said regional operations contributed with 25.9 per cent of the total fee and commission income, up from 12.8 per cent compared to the same period in 2007.

It said this was a 'trend that is expected to continue as the group expands into other regional markets including Qatar and Oman in addition to investment banking and asset management in Saudi Arabia picking up'.

Total assets under management at the group reached the equivalent of $8.6 billion, of which $7.6 billion are in listed equities and money market funds, and the remainder in private equity, the statement said. 

Shares in the company were up 0.9 per cent at 50.30 Egyptian pounds by 0924 GMT.-Reuters