Egyptian Resorts pre-tax earnings up 51 pct in Q2

CAIRO, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Egyptian Resorts Company (EGTS.CA) made 184.5 million Egyptian pounds ($34.1 million) in earnings before tax in the second quarter of 2008, up 51 percent on the same period of 2007, the company said in a statement on Sunday.

Revenues were 60 percent higher at 226.6 million pounds and earnings per share were 21 percent higher at 0.17 pounds, it said. The shares opened in Sunday trading at 3.45 pounds.

The company said revenues dropped 7.9 percent in the first six months of the year, mainly because of the sale of a plot to subsidiary Sahl Hasheesh Company in the first quarter.

The weighted average price of the company's land at Sahl Hasheesh on the Red Sea coast has risen to $148 a square metre in the first half of 2008 from $78 in 2007, Chief Executive Richard Turner said in the statement.

"Maintaining a healthy price increase is important as we endeavour to preserve an increasing net asset value for our land," he added.

Egyptian Resorts, often a popular stock with retail investors, has extensive land holdings on the Red Sea. ($1=5.4020 Egyptian pounds) (Writing by Jonathan Wright; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)