Egypt's OHD says '08 profit could beat projections

CAIRO, April 7 (Reuters) - Egypt's Orascom Hotels and Development ORHD.CA, which more than doubled its net profit last year, said on Monday it may beat its forecasts for 2008 on revenue from projects in Egypt and Oman.

"This year looks in line with projections and maybe a bit ahead, and 2008 was more bullish than 2007," chairman Samih Sawiris told investors on a conference call.

He did not give the company's projections, but he had told Reuters in November he was expecting net profit growth of more than 50 percent annually until 2010.

Orascom's projects in Oman would likely start contributing revenue to the company this year, and revenues from the company's development in Taba Heights in Egypt's Sinai peninsula may need to be revised upward, Sawiris said, without giving details.

Orascom is building resort towns in the Gulf Arab country of Oman which include golf courses, hotels, and marinas. Oman would be the company's largest development outside of Egypt, where it has two developments on the Red Sea coast. Sawiris also said the company was looking to offer budget housing in more areas around Egypt and possibly in Morocco.

Orascom said in July it would build a 20,000-unit budget housing project in Fayoum, southwest of Cairo. The company hoped to reach 50,000 budget housing units, Sawiris said, without giving a timeframe.

Orascom said last month it would seek to list its shares in Switzerland, where it is planning to build an alpine hotel resort. Orascom shares should start trading on the Swiss stock exchange around May 7, he said.

Shares in Orascom Hotels closed 2.6 percent down at 85 pounds ($15.60) per share on the Egyptian stock exchange on Monday.

(Writing by Will Rasmussen; Editing by Andrew Hurst)