Egypt’s Sinai Cement reported a four per cent rise in pre-tax profit for the first nine months of 2008 to EGP298.1m (US$53.9m, the stock exchange said on Sunday.

The statement did not provide a reason for the rise. In a separate statement, the company said it approved doubling its issued capital to EGP700m. The increase will be done through issuing 35m free shares, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange.

Shares in Sinai Cement were trading nearly one per cent up at EGP35.13 by 1036 GMT.
(US$1 = EGP5.535)