Telecom Egypt posts 9.9 pct rise in Q1 net profit

Telecom Egypt's first-quarter net profit rose 9.9 percent to 604 million Egyptian pounds ($79.16 million) on strong retail growth, it said on Wednesday.

The landline monopoly, in which the government owns an 80 percent stake, posted consolidated revenue of 2.76 billion pounds, up from 2.56 billion a year earlier.

Earnings per share for the period was 0.35 Egyptian pounds.

Chief executive Mohamed Elnawawy said the most important element was the growth in retail customers. He said the firm had added 220,000 new retail customers in the first quarter of this year, versus 60,000 in the fourth quarter of 2014