Egypt's NSGB 2008 net profit jumps 74 pct

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's National Societe Generale Bank reported a 74 percent rise in net profit for 2008 to 1.14 billion Egyptian pounds on Tuesday, well above market forecasts.

The bank said in a brief statement to the stock exchange that net profit in 2007 was 653.1 million pounds.

Five investment banks had forecast NSGB's net profit would range between 653.77 million pounds to 1.036 billion pounds. NSGB is 77.2 percent owned by Societe Generale of France, according to the bank's website.

Egyptian banks have largely been insulated from the global financial crisis because of their limited exposure to foreign banks and real estate assets.