Telecom Egypt climbs after results, index flat

CAIRO, May 17 (Reuters) - Fixed-line monopoly Telecom Egypt (ETEL.CA)(ETELq.L) climbed over 4 percent on Sunday on strong first quarter results, helping Egypt's main index .EGX30 stay afloat on a light trading day, dealers said.

Telecom Egypt, which posted a 72 percent rise in first quarter net profit on Thursday, gained 4.43 percent to 18.14 Egyptian pounds ($3.23), helping boost the benchmark EGX 30 index by 0.21 percent to 5,640.28 points.

The broader EGX 70 index .EGX70 gained 0.86 percent to 603.02 points. Dealers said trade was light due to the western weekend, although some foreign institutions were buying big caps.

"Telecom Egypt came out with very good results, and a lot of foreign institutions liked the results," said Hashem Ghoneim of Pyramids Capital, adding that foreigners were buying the stock as a result.

Shares in real estate developer Palm Hills (PHDC.CA), which posted a 64 percent drop in first quarter net profit on Thursday, jumped 8.06 percent to 11.39 pounds. The firm also said it was well positioned to endure testing trade conditions.

Oriental Weavers (ORWE.CA), the world's biggest machine-woven carpet producer, saw its shares add 1.75 percent to 28.44 pounds. The firm had posted a 14 percent gain in profit for the first quarter on Thursday, driven by strong performance in the Egyptian market.

But shares in Orascom Construction Industries (OCIC.CA)(OCICq.L), whose net profit for the first quarter dipped 46 percent, shed 0.81 percent to 188.05 pounds.

The firm's results, which it said were due to foreign exchange and interest income gains a year earlier, were in line with analyst expectations. ($1 = 5.6174 Egyptian pounds) (Writing by Cynthia Johnston)