CAIRO: Heliopolis Housing net profit rose 41 percent to LE 104.8 million ($18.4 million) in the first nine months of its 2006/7 financial year, the stock exchange said on Tuesday.

The financial year started on July 1, 2006. Net profit in the same period of 2005/6 was LE 74.3 million, the exchange said in a statement.

By 1000 GMT, Heliopolis Housing shares were up 25.5 percent at LE 550 a share on speculation about the prices land will fetch in the final stage of a government auction.

Heliopolis Housing has a lot of land in the same area and if you do a revaluation based on the prices you will find that it s worth 650 [Egyptian] pounds, said Yasser Hassanein of Dynamic Securities.

Egyptian housing shares have risen sharply in the last 10 days after the first stage of the auction drew high bids.